TOON’S TRIP TO SAUDI IS A GREAT IDEA, SAYS HOWE

EDDIE HOWE insists Newcastle’s decision to take a mid-season break in Saudi Arabia will not be a distraction in their fight for Premier League survival. As revealed by Sportsmail last week, the squad will fly to Jeddah tomorrow for a training camp during which they will also play a game. The trip marks the team’s first visit to the Gulf kingdom since Newcastle were taken over by the country’s Public Investment Fund. Co-owner Amanda Staveley — who we understand will travel with the squad — had to convince the Premier League the club would not be controlled by the Saudi state and that PIF was a separate entity. However, Amnesty International fear the visit will turn into ‘another PR opportunity for the Saudi authorities, who are trying to sportswash their appalling human rights record’. Howe would not comment on Saudi’s human rights, saying the trip was a ‘football decision’. But it does mean that Staveley, Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall will spend the final week of the transfer window 4,000 miles from the UK. The head coach admits he and the club’s hierarchy have had a ‘frustrating’ and ‘fruitless’ week in their bid to bring in signings such as Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard ahead of today’s trip to Leeds. But Howe says the Saudi break during their 17-day gap between competitive matches is a ‘worthwhile exercise’. ‘The facilities will be first-class,’ he said. ‘There will be no distraction from my side. We will come back a united squad.’ Meanwhile, former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is suing Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi over a £10million loan he gave them to facilitate the sale of the club. Ashley claims Staveley has defaulted on the loan after violating an agreement not to criticise his running of the club in the media and refusing to allow Sports Direct advertising to remain at St James’ Park. A spokesman for Staveley said they were ‘very confident of successfully defending the claim in full’.