Forward Yoane Wissa is ready to take on a bigger role as Newcastle United aim to reach the Champions League knockout stage for the first time, manager Eddie Howe told reporters on Tuesday.

Wissa, who scored 20 goals for Brentford last season, returned from a knee injury to make his Newcastle debut as a late substitute in Saturday’s Premier League win over Burnley, becoming the 1,000th player to represent the club in a league fixture.

“He is ready to take on minutes. We have limited time between matches for him to build fitness, but in those 20 minutes he showed what he is capable of,” Howe said ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen.

“However we get through, the knockout phase is the target. It would be preferable to advance without a playoff, but the teams we face are in good form.”

Newcastle sit on nine points from five Champions League matches, just one point shy of the top eight who qualify directly for the last 16. Teams finishing ninth to 24th in the group stage enter a knockout playoff to reach the round of 16.

Howe’s side are unbeaten in their last three matches, though their most recent European outing ended in a 2-1 defeat at Olympique de Marseille.

Leverkusen, one point behind Newcastle, have won their last two Champions League games, including a notable victory at Manchester City.

“Leverkusen are an outstanding team, true to their identity, so this will be a tough game,” Howe said.
“Any team that wins at Man City demands your attention. I’ve watched them in the Bundesliga — they’re very strong, capable of flexible systems, which makes them difficult to play against.”