Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has criticized hosts Hull City for tickets’ allocation to them as they are poised to meet in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.

The English Championship side are to play Hull at KCOM Stadium for a chance to reach a cup semi final in over a decade.

The Magpies had their request for more tickets thrown out even as Hull are not sure the stadium would be filled during the game. Of the total capacity of over 25,000 only 2474 were allocated to Newcastle United,

“I would like to see as many of our fans as we can have there, but I can’t control the policy they decide. Football now with a lot of TV has to be more for the fans going to the stadium, enjoying it and creating an atmosphere that will be good for the game,” the former Liverpool manager said.

Benitez added that if there was an opportunity to get more fans to see a game, Hull should have done so.

“You see half the stadiums empty in Spain or 20 percent occupied in Italy, and here when you have an opportunity and you don’t do that. But you can do nothing,” Benitez bemoaned, obviously frustrated.

Newcastle would have loved more fans to support them as they dream of a cup semi final since their 4-1 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup in 2005. There is excitement at Tyneside as the fans dream, even though a promotion to top flight English football remains priority.

“It is a motivation for us to play against a Premier League team. They are at home, so they have a bit of an advantage, but we need to go and show our levels and try and reach the semi final,” Bnitez added.