Newcastle United will touch down in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for the start of what Eddie Howe has described as a “mini pre-season”.
Howe will be looking for the same type of focus from his players as he got in Austria and Portugal during two trips which resulted in hard work, togetherness and strong results when the Premier League kicked off for real in August.
Since then Newcastle have lost just one game in the Premier League and have not tasted a home loss since last spring - both against Liverpool.
Howe’s squad will be without his World Cup stars of course but there are still plenty of players with something to prove this week.
Ultimately though, Howe will want to see the same attitude from his stars as part one of the season.
Notably, there has been no sign of any unrest with every player willing to wait their turn to impress, something that was non-existent in the years before the takeover.
If Newcastle hit the ground running in part two of the season, they have every chance of turning their Champions League push into a reality.
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