Newcastle United are bracing themselves for the lowest crowd of the Mike Ashley era when they face Leicester City in the Carabao Cup next week - even though Steve Bruce is promising to play his strongest XI.

Around 20,000 seats remain on sale for the second round tie but large sections of St James' Park are not open, including the upper tiers of the Gallowgate and Milburn stands.

It means the attendance is in danger of dipping below the 15,805 who watched an FA Cup third-round replay against Plymouth Argyle in January, 2010.

Newcastle United fans have protested against Mike Ashley's ownership this season

Large numbers of empty seats could be seen at the opening day clash against Arsenal

Just 15,000 fans are expected to watch next week's League Cup tie against Leicester City

Fans have been given little reason for optimism during the opening two matches of the season and Bruce accused his players of 'not even putting their boots on' during Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Norwich.

The new boss insists he will not play a weakened team in the cup competitions and has targeted bringing an end to the club's 51-year wait for silverware.

However, supporters remain angry with Mike Ashley's running of their club and staying away from cup ties - even though tickets are as low as £11 against top-flight opposition - is one avenue for protest.

Mike Ashley recently told Sportsmail that he has made mistakes during his ownership of club

Bruce's side travel to Spurs on Sunday and he should be boosted by the return of £16million winger Allan Saint-Maximin. He suffered the first hamstring injury of his career last week and, while Bruce is cautious of aggravating the strain, the summer signing is set to return to full training in the coming days.

Meanwhile, defender Paul Dummett has told Wales boss Ryan Giggs that he wants to concentrate on club football.

And Dummett has moved to clarify comments about Newcastle's warm-up at Norwich. He said earlier this week that something 'was not right' before the game.

However, he has now tweeted: 'Just to clarify my comment on the warm-up in my post-match interview, it was about us as players and as a team, not the coaching staff.'