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Lee Ryder

Newcastle United return: Lejeune, Muto and Gayle all back and Steve Bruce handed big boost

Newcastle United players have returned to the club's Benton base for the start of pre-season training.

The squad arrived on Monday morning for examination from the club's medics and underwent tests for heart rate, bloods and Covid with the real pre-season hard work starting in due course.

First-team stars like Joelinton, Paul Dummett and Mark Gillespie were snapped coming back through the gates while there was a massive early positive with Callum Wilson back and fit to start pre-season training.

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Returning loanees Florian Lejeune and Yoshinori Muto were pictured in training while Dwight Gayle was also spotted after signing new contract.

Newcastle's international stars, such as Miguel Almiron and Fabian Schar, involved at the Copa America and Euro 2020, have extra time to rest.

But Newcastle are monitoring Almiron's hamstring injury suffered against Uruguay last week.

Coach Graeme Jones is also expected to join up with the squad after England duties following a successful summer at Euro 2020.

United will spend the next week at Benton before travelling to York to begin a boot camp at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate campus on July 12.

Then the build-up will begin for their first pre-season opener against York City at the LNER Stadium on the day the squad will split up and also take on Harrogate on July 18.

Newcastle then face trips to Rotherham, Burton and Doncaster before a home friendly with Norwich City.

United had to scrap an overseas pre-season training camp in Portugal for the second year running due to travel restrictions caused by Covid.

Toon boss Steve Bruce said: "I firmly believe that for any team it's always vital to have a training camp away from the familiar surroundings of your training ground and once it became clear that the current Covid-19 restrictions would make travelling abroad extremely difficult, there was only one choice in my eyes.

"The facilities at Queen Ethelburga's are first class and I was delighted with everything last year, from the hotel accommodation to the pitches and everything in between, so we're really looking forward to going back there."

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