It's match day minus one in the Newcastle United camp over here in Austria and while there's a threat of rain tomorrow it's a sweltering 31 degrees near Salzburg. Fans are starting to make their way to some of the bigger cities in Austria, like Vienna, and then across to Saalfelden tomorrow for the 2.30pm kick off (local time).
This is far from a commercial trip for Newcastle after the plug was pulled on the Ohio Cup in the US in a tournament that would have been much more of a fanfare.
But nevertheless, wherever Newcastle go they attract good numbers and while there are only 1,000 tickets available at the Saalfelden Arena it should be full.
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Competition for places is full throttle
Big Toon defender Dan Burn only arrived at Newcastle in January for a fee of £13million from Brighton & Hove Albion during the winter window. But already he faces a battle for his place with £34million man Sven Botman here in a mega deal from Lille.
Burn was outstanding last season and was arguably in form worthy of an England call-up towards the end of last season, only to be overlooked for a tired squad which ended up losing twice to Hungary and being eliminated from the business end of the UEFA Nations League to crank the pressure up on Gareth Southgate.
Could Burn have done any worse? I think not and many Newcastle fans may well agree on his stake for an England cap not least for his 6ft 7in frame, something unique in the Premier League.
Nevertheless with Burn a left-footer he will be in direct competition with Botman while Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar battle it out for the other slot on the right-hand side.
By the way, Burn isn't the only one, with Joe Willock knowing he faces his biggest challenge yet at Newcastle to stay in the team. With Bruno, Jonjo Shelvey and Joelinton excelling last season it will be interesting to see where he features next term.
Burn and Willock have the chance to prove his worth in the opening few friendly games but the same can be said throughout the squad other than in the striker department. It's looking light up there but Newcastle hope to take a step closer to resolving competition before they are finished here in Austria.
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