Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce plans to give each first-team player at least 60 to 70 minutes of action this Sunday in the Magpies' opening pre-season double header.
United will split their squad in half and send one team to face National League North side York City and another side to face League Two outfit Harrogate Town at the weekend.
The matches kick-start Newcastle's pre-season schedule and will also bring a week-long training camp at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate campus in the Yorkshire countryside to a close.
Bruce has dubbed the facilities available to his side this week as 'top drawer' and admits it is a 'big week' in terms of his players' fitness ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
"We have got two games at the weekend so we want to give everybody in the squad at least 60 to 70 minutes," Bruce told NUFC TV.
"We will break the squad up and do it as an exercise of what we want in terms of minutes into the players' legs.
"We all needed a break from it. We were physically exhausted at the end of the season but it is good to be back and to see football being normal again.
"Let's hope things go our way and we can gear towards having a full house against West Ham."
