Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew is delighted to have qualified for the next stage of the Europa League after their 1-1 draw with Maritimo.

Pardew is confident that with a full squad at his disposal, Newcastle should not even fear the Champions League drop-outs who will enter the competition at that stage.

He said: "It's sometimes misleading, the competition, when the Champions League teams come down, how motivated they are for it. It's almost a secondary competition for them.

"Some of them might be a better option than a team in the competition already.

"It becomes a stronger competition, obviously. We would obviously like the second leg at home - we need to win the group to do that, and we have still got that opportunity."