Newcastle United players have been stepping up their preparations for the new campaign ahead of returning for pre-season training in just 10 days' time.
Eddie Howe wanted to ensure his players had a proper break from the training ground following an eventful season and rather than bringing his squad back a little early, in the final days of June, the Newcastle head coach and his staff instead set July 1 as a return date. That means the majority of the squad will have had nearly six weeks off by then while those individuals who have been on international duty look set to return at a slightly later date.
That said, it did not take Howe long to start looking ahead to the new campaign and the players were handed their off-season programmes just 20 minutes after the final day win at Burnley last month. That did not come as a surprise to former Bournemouth captain Tommy Elphick, who previously told ChronicleLive that there will be 'no hiding place' for Newcastle players if they do not stick to their programmes because Howe will 'want to hit the ground running from day one'.
