Championship leaders Newcastle United visit a resurgent Norwich City tomorrow evening (7.45pm kick-off) hoping to extend their lead at the top of the division.

The Magpies edged past Wolves 1-0 in their last league outing, Aleksandar Mitrovic with the winner, on Saturday to maintain their slender one-point lead over second place Brighton, who battered Burton Albion 4-1 on the same day.

Reading’s 0-0 draw with Barnsley meant that Huddersfield moved up to third, but the gap to the Terriers is now six points with just 16 games of the season remaining, so both Newcastle and Brighton look well set to win automatic promotion to the Premier League this term.

However, Alex Neil’s Norwich have been one of the division’s form sides in the last few weeks, having won four of their last five matches, and losing just one of their last eight.

Their 5-1 success over Nottingham Forest last weekend suggests that the Canaries are getting back to their best, and with just a place and two points separating them and the top six, Neil’s men will be confident of getting back into the play-off picture with victory over Benitez’s side on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, Newcastle will go into tomorrow’s match as favourites to secure yet another win, but Benitez could make a few changes to his starting eleven, so here are THREE players who deserve a chance against Norwich…

Christian Atsu

Christian Atsu returned from the African Cup of Nations last week, and came on as a second half substitute in Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.

The Ghanaian international, who helped his country to a fourth place finish in the AFCON, has started only six Championship games for the Magpies this term, although has impressed whenever he’s been on the field.

Alongside 11 substitute appearances, the 25-year-old has scored three goals for Benitez’s men this season, the latest of which coming in their 2-0 win at Wigan on December 14.

A mixture of starts and substitute appearances have taken place since then, but his return to the squad on Saturday will be of a huge boost to Benitez, and Atsu could come in should the Magpies boss decide to change things up at Carrow Road.

Daryl Murphy

It took Daryl Murphy a while to get to full fitness following his summer move from Ipswich, yet he performed excellently in the Newcastle side last month.

The 33-year-old struggled in the early phase of the campaign, and didn’t make his full debut for the Magpies until January 7, where he netted the opener in their FA Cup third round draw with Birmingham at St Andrew’s.

Back-to-back league starts and back-to-back league goals followed for the Republic of Ireland international, and it was his form that meant they didn’t miss the goals of Dwight Gayle too badly during his injury lay-off.

Should Benitez decide against starting Aleksandar Mitrovic, after he was lucky to avoid a red card on Saturday, Murphy could be the man to deputise at Carrow Road on Wednesday.

Dwight Gayle

The return of Dwight Gayle from injury will be of absolute delight to the Newcastle faithful, although the same probably can’t be said of the rest of the Championship.

The 26-year-old, who signed from Crystal Palace last summer, is the second tier’s top-scorer with 20 goals in just 22 appearances this term, including seven in seven prior to sustaining a hamstring problem in their 2-1 victory over Brentford on January 14.

He hasn’t featured for Benitez’s side since then, and given that they have lost just one game this season in which the Englishman has scored, Newcastle will be hoping he can get straight back amongst the goals on Wednesday should he feature against the Canaries.