RAFA BENITEZ believes Newcastle United’s low-key transfer window has contributed to the way he wants his team to treat the Carabao Cup when they face Nottingham Forest tonight.

The Magpies will make a number of changes for the second round tie at the City Ground, with young players Jamie Sterry and Sean Longstaff expected to make appearances.

Benitez would love to be the manager who brings a major trophy to St James’ Park for the first time in approaching 50 years, but he does not feel he has the resources to send out a strong team.

He was talking at the club’s Benton training headquarters ahead of the Carabao Cup game, knowing the Forest date is sandwiched between hard Premier League tests with Chelsea and Manchester City.

Newcastle will head to the Etihad on Saturday with just a point from their opening three games, and Benitez knows he can’t afford to lose more key players at a time when he already has Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey sidelined through injury.

"You have to manage your squad,” said Benitez. “Depending on the transfer window, your squad is stronger or not. You have to manage the team.

“We can win with the players we put on the pitch, but we cannot lie to our fans though and pretend this is the most important game of the season.

“My job as a manager is to analyse my squad and then decide tactics against any opponent.

“When you play against top sides they are so good, you see the price of any player, two players for Chelsea in one window will be more expensive that what we spent in our last six windows.”

The Blues spent £130m on Jorginho and Kepa, taking Chelsea’s net spend to around the £87m mark. That is a far cry from what Newcastle had to play with, with Benitez left frustrated by the fact they made a £28m profit during the window.

Benitez thinks such factors should be remembered before criticising his selection decisions or whether he sends out to defend first and foremost against teams like Chelsea and City.

Jamie Redknapp, Gary Neville and Graeme Souness were among those to have complained about the defensive approach Newcastle adopted, while Benitez is braced for further fire when he names a weakened team at Forest.

H said: "You think that you can win the cup if everything is right. But you saw the bench of Chelsea the other day.

"Chelsea had a world champion on the bench. Yes, on the bench. Then the other players too on their bench, so that means they can play this competition with players that still will be top-class players.

"If you can go through now, then you will try to analyse what is going on in the future. But you cannot kill your squad now because if you don't play some players, then already you will lose three or four players [mentally].

"Then, as soon as you have a couple of injuries, your team is weaker and weaker.

"You have to find this balance between using your squad, being ambitious in the competition and trying to be sure that you have a good team for the Premier League too.”

Regardless of what players he names in his starting line-ups in cup competitions this season, Benitez insists he would still love to be the manager who brings glory to Tyneside.

“For sure, I used to win some cups, so I like to win competitions,” said Benitez. “But the cup competition is more exciting, because it's just one game and you go through. In the league you have to be consistent for months, and some people don't see excitement every game.

“You need to find the balance. I could change seven players at Valencia we were still winning games. If you do that, it's because your squad is good enough.”

Benitez is also convinced it is right to give fringe players opportunities so that they have a chance to stake a claim for a place in the Premier League.

He said: "First of all (won’t play strongest team) because we have some injuries. Second of all because we don't want to play too many players in three days - for example Matt Ritchie has a knock on his knee, so he cannot play - but some of these players, they were coming back from the World Cup and they were not fit.

“They have to play, if not they will not be fit ever, because the match fitness is something you only get playing games. These players have to play in these games in order to get that match fitness.

"Some people say: 'At this stage of the season, you cannot be tired, you can play games, and maybe in April you can be rested.

"But the time it takes you to recover, you need at least three days. If you don't have that time to recover, you lose something.

"Even if you have the passion, even if you are fit, you lose a little bit. That is scientific fact, it is not just my opinion.

"The risk of injuries, plus the risk of players being tired who have not had time to recover for the next game, is massive.

"Imagine that you play against Nottingham Forest, and then you go through and the next game is against a Premier League team. Again you will not play these players because you have to play your 'best XI' every time.

"So, in three months maybe you will have more problems. But if you manage and in six or nine months you have players who are fitter, then you have to manage all these things together."