Newcastle welcome five back from World Cup duty ahead of City friendly

The Magpies are set to make the long trip to Ashton Gate from the North East on Wednesday evening as Michael Skubala's Robins step up their preparations ahead of the new season against Premier League opposition.

So far, City have played three friendlies. The Reds were beaten by League One Stockport County in their first outing under their new boss at the end of their pre-season training camp, drew with fourth tier Newport County at the Robins High Performance Centre and, on Saturday, beat League Two Swindon Town.

Skubala's side ran out 3-1 winners at The County Ground on Saturday afternoon, with a Lorent Tolaj brace and a Jed Wallace strike ultimately proving enough for City to get their first win of the summer on the board.

While the Reds plied their trade against Ian Holloway's Robins, Newcastle faced National League side Gateshead in their first public friendly of pre-season over the weekend. In the end, a late Ben Williams own-goal ultimately spared the Magpies' blushes in a laboured 1-1 draw.

Eddie Howe's side were without 13 first-team players for Saturday's fixture, with each of Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley, Joelinton, Will Osula and Sven Botman missing out through injury. The game was also deemed to have come too soon for summer signing Aldji Bamba.

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Alongside those listed above, the seven Newcastle players who took part in this summer's World Cup were also absent. However, a video shared to social media channels on Monday morning has shown five of those players return to the Magpies' KNOX training centre.

New signing Bazoumana Toure was pictured at Newcastle's training base, as was Yoane Wissa, who made the move to the North East from Brentford last summer. Nick Woltemade could be seen speaking to Ewen Jaouen, while Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga were filmed greeting one another.

Wissa was the stand-out Magpie at this summer's World Cup. The forward scored three goals in four matches for DR Congo, before their Round of 32 defeat to England, while Elanga managed to get on the scoresheet twice for Graham Potter's Sweden.

It was a more disappointing tournament for Toure, Woltemade and Thiaw. The former made just one start as the Ivory Coast made it to the Round of 16, while Thiaw and Woltemade were part of the Germany side that were knocked out by Paraguay on penalties.

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According to a report from Chronicle Live, it remains to be seen whether any of the five returning faces will be deemed ready to make the trip to south Bristol tomorrow night. After they meet with the Robins, Newcastle jet to La Manga later this week for their own warm weather training camp.

Exit-linked midfielder Bruno Guimares is due to return on Friday ahead of the Magpies' pre-season tour, having featured for Brazil this summer, while England defender Dan Burn's return date is not clear. The Three Lions' bronze medal match against France was played just a little over a week ago in Miami.

While City take on Howe's side on Wednesday evening, another Reds team will face Forest Green Rovers at The New Lawn Stadium. Then, the Robins wrap up their friendly schedule with a double-header against Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City on Saturday afternoon.