Tough first day back in training

CALLUM Wilson has admitted that Newcastle United players experienced a ‘tough’ first day of pre-season after Eddie Howe and his staff immediately got to work.

Wilson and the majority of the first-team squad returned to Benton for a double session last Friday after nearly six weeks off following a rollercoaster campaign with the Magpies last season.

Although these players made full use of the break, they also had strict off-season programmes to follow to ensure they were in the ideal condition to hit the ground running when they returned.

Newcastle staff spent most of Friday morning carrying out a range of physical tests to see what sort of shape the group were in.

Just like on Howe’s first day in charge, last November, the players were put through their paces during the dreaded bleep test.

Then, in the afternoon, the footballs came out and Howe and his staff immediately started carrying out some tactical work, which will also improve the players’ overall fitness. In contrast, last summer, the players did a lot more free running, but Wilson admitted that the team, as a result, ‘weren’t fit enough and weren’t in the right place’ going into the start of the campaign because they did not do enough ‘football-specific movements’.

There will be no danger of that under Howe as Wilson knows only too well.

“Tough first day back but you get what you work for not what you wish for,” Wilson wrote in an Instagram post.

Wilson, more than most, needs a proper pre-season as the Newcastle striker looks to put his previous injury issues behind him after missing 32 league games for the Magpies in just two seasons.

Howe believes Wilson can stay fit, but the Newcastle head coach previously admitted ‘that’s going to be a challenge for him and for us to find a way of working that keeps him in prime physical condition’.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that Wilson only missed one game through injury in his final season with Howe at Bournemouth and, tellingly, the Newcastle boss is searching for a goalscorer who can help ease the burden on the number nine rather than replace him.

Wilson intends to move his family up to Newcastle so that he is doing recovery sessions at the training ground on his days off rather than travelling hundreds of miles down to the South Coast.