Five talking points from Newcastle 2 Wolves 0

Two goals in two minutes from Matt Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran proved the difference at St James' Park.

It was a role reversal from the Championship game on Saturday, although both teams had made eight changes.

Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points from a disappointing evening.

The opposite doesn't attract

It wasn't just the scoreline that was the opposite from Saturday's league game.

Newcastle started on the front foot, got their fans behind them and moved the ball with far more precision and purpose.

Wolves' game-plan - playing 4-3-3, pressing Newcastle's centre halves and trying to hit them on the counter, was similar, but wasn't enacted with the same quality.

It may have been the same clubs and the same stadium but with both teams having made eight changes this was a very different game.

Strength in depth

Newcastle's superior strength in depth was the most telling factor.

Rafa Benitez could bring in the likes of Ciaran Clark, Jack Colback, Yoan Gouffran and Daryl Murphy - all experienced players who have proved themselves in this country.

Players such as Silvio, Joao Teixeira, Ola John and Paul Gladon are only taking their first steps in English football and Wolves are very much a work in progress.

Even people like Dominic Iorfa and Kortney Hause, who seem to have been around for a while, are still aged 21, while Cameron Borthwick-Jackson is learning his trade.

It was no shame for Wolves to be beaten by such an expensively assembled and experienced line-up. And it highlighted just how good Saturday's performance and result was.

Chances spurned

Newcastle out-shot Wolves (13 to four) and had more possession (56 per cent to 44) but there were pivotal moments where this game could have been in the balance.

The most obvious of those was at 0-0 when Jed Wallace put his shot too close to keeper Karl Darlow when through on goal.

There was another just before the break when Gladon's cross was a fraction ahead of Wallace in the six-yard box.

And then 13 minutes from time John was denied by Darlow after a superb move in and around the Wolves box involving him, George Saville and Jack Price.

If one of those went in it would have made things interesting. But Wolves didn't put the home team under enough pressure, particularly in the early stages of the second half when it was Newcastle who looked the more likely scorers.

That was when Wolves needed a rousing spell of pressure to make a proper game of it.

John stakes a claim

The two big positives of the evening were the debuts of Silvio and Ola John.

The Portuguese right-back got a full 90 minutes under his belt and looked solid throughout, keeping Gouffran quiet for the most part.

John was sent on at half time and in the few chances he got to run at the Newcastle defence he impressed, creating Wolves' only two meaningful chances of the second period.

He's direct, but also looks to have an explosive turn of pace and an ability to saunter past his man.

The winger was mostly used as a substitute by Reading last season and that will probably be his role for now. What a great option to have.

Elsewhere Gladon was starved of service and needs a run of games to adapt to his new team mates (you could say that for quite a few of them, let's be honest).

Iorfa and Hause did well after their poor showing in the last round versus Cambridge. Wallace and Joe Mason were probably the two biggest disappointments in terms of end product and they risk being dropped down the pecking order as Costa, John and Cavaleiro get up to speed.

Poor cup record continues

In an eerie reflection of last year's EFL Cup exertions, Wolves struggled to beat lower league opposition 2-1 at home in the first and second rounds, and then were deservedly beaten away from home in the third round against a north east Championship club.

Their quite abysmal record in the competition continues, then. Believe it or not Wolves have reached the quarter finals only once (1995/96) since they won the thing in 1980.

As they will have said in almost all of those 36 years, the league is the priority, but with such a big squad in 2016/17 it's a shame they weren't able to have a proper cup run this season.

All in all, though, it was a productive five-day jaunt to the north east. As Danny Batth said on Saturday it was important for the squad to get away together seen as 11 of them weren't around for the pre-season tour.

Zenga used 21 players in the two games (Richard Stearman being the only one who didn't feature) and with the debuts of Saiss, Silvio and John has now seen everyone in his first-team squad in competitive action.