Premier League side Newcastle United were enjoying the Dubai sunshine on Tuesday as they continued their training camp in the UAE.
With club football taking an international break, Newcastle have again headed for warmer climes following their successful trip to Saudi Arabia at the end of January.
That trip to Jeddah helped spark a huge upturn in form for Eddie Howe's side, who have dragged themselves away from the relegation zone to currently sit 14th in the table – nine points clear of the bottom three.
The Mapgies saw their unbeaten record this year come to an end just before the international break as they suffered successive 1-0 defeats – at Chelsea and Everton, respectively.
And Howe will be hoping this latest trip to the Middle East can help give his team another boost as they head into the final weeks of the season.
Striker Callum Wilson – who has been out since late December due to an Achilles problem – is back in light training and joined his teammates on the field at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.
But Howe insists they will taking no risks with their top goalscorer, or January signing Kieran Trippier, who suffered a fractured metatarsal last month.
Everton 1 Newcastle 0: player ratings
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EVERTON RATINGS: Asmir Begovic - 7: Rare start in place of the ill Jordan Pickford and no major saves in first half – one poor throw that gave Coleman no chance and went out for throw in. Good stops from Fraser and Willock after break. Getty -
Seamus Coleman - 7: Perfectly timed challenge to take ball off toes of Fraser with Scot almost through on goal in first half. Brushed Saint-Maximin off ball to start move for Iwobi winner. Reuters -
Mason Holgate - 7: Scrambled Krafth cross out of six-yard box with Begovic beaten and the goal begging early on game. Handled physicality of Wood well. PA -
Michael Keane - 7: Good defending to get his head in way of cross with Wood lurking. Guilty of some poor mistakes of late but no problems at the back here. PA -
Ben Godfrey - 6: Headed game’s first chance straight into arms of Dubravka early on – Everton’s only attempt on target until 77th minute. Beaten by Almiron’s pace in second half and was rescued by Begovic save from resulting ball into box. Getty -
Allan - 5: Brazilian was driving force to Everton’s frenetic opening to game. Booked for naughty challenge on Saint-Maximin on second half that was upgraded to red after VAR intervention. Cynical rather than particularly vicious tackle. Reuters -
Abdoulaye Doucoure - 5: Mixed game from midfielder, some driving runs forward but also caught in possession a few times dawdling on ball and gave away clumsy fouls. PA -
Demarai Gray - 4: Has the creativity that Everton craved but offered very little threat and was no surprise when he was eventually taken off in second half. PA -
Alex Iwobi - 7: Frustrated fans when he held on to ball too long towards end of first half before finally releasing an aimless ball out for throw in. Produced only bit of real quality from Everton in the opposition box to slot home vital winner for Everton. PA -
Alex Gordon - 7: Goodison Park certainly approved of his effort and workrate from start to finish - one crunching tackle on Fraser in first half had stadium roaring. Cut inside and fired in shot in second half that forced decent save from Dubravka. Reuters -
Richarlison - 5: Not a sniff on goal and got little joy out of Newcastle defence. Frustration got better of him after break when booked for obvious barge into Burn. One good ball into box that nearly picked out Calvert-Lewin. Spends too much time rolling around on ground. AFP -
UBS: Dominic Calvert-Lewin – (On for Gray 76’) 7: Almost got on end of Richarlison cross minutes after coming on. Supplied pass for winner. PA -
Andre Gomes – (On for Richarlison 87’) N/A. Reuters -
NEWCASTLE RATINGS: Martin Dubravka - 6: Relatively quiet night for Slovakian. Decent enough save from Gordon shot in second half and no chance with Iwobi’s winner. Reuters -
Emil Krafth - 7: Fine run early on and low cross that needed a desperate clearance away. One well-timed tackle on Richarlison with Brazilian lining up shot in box. Volley easily saved by Begovic. Booked for foul on Richarlison. Reuters -
Fabian Schar - 7: Swiss defender took over captain’s armband and looked to mark the occasion by attempting to lob Begovic from free-kick in his own half, but only found keeper’s hands. Marshalled team well but couldn't stop defence being ripped open for late winner. PA -
Dan Burn - 7: Earned wrath of home fans after bulldozing through back of Gordon to win header early on. Continued his excellent form since moving to Tyneside, winning everything on the ground and in the air. Getty -
Matt Targett - 7: Played some decent balls into box from left that teammates failed to make best of and loan signing from Aston Villa was sound defensively throughout. PA -
Bruno Guimaraes - 7: Sliced open Everton defence with one beautiful pass that set Krafth away down right and was one of the few players who seemed capable of putting foot on ball and pick out a teammate with a pass. Curled shot well wide late in game. AFP -
Joe Willock - 6: Quiet first half going forward from former Arsenal midfielder. Then hit tame shot straight at Begovic just after half-time but forced good save out of keeper with chance early in the 14 minutes of added time at the end. AFP -
Joelinton - 7: Brazilian back from injury and straight back into the groove winning balls in centre of park and chasing down the opposition, although guilty of holding on to ball too long on occasions when going forward. PA -
Miguel Almiron - 6: Paraguayan attacker had shot from edge of area deflected wide for corner. His pace can cause problems – set up great chance for Fraser with one surging run - but goes down far too easily at slightest of challenges. Reuters -
Ryan Fraser - 6: Hit first-time volley well wide from edge of box after 15 minutes. Barged over on edge of box by Coleman in opening half but somehow not given free-kick. Had shot well saved by Begovic in second half. AFP -
Chris Wood - 5: Two tricky headed chances in first half hour – once hit straight at Begovic, the other over the bar. Little else from big striker. PA -
SUBS: Allan Saint-Maximin – (On for Almiron 71’) 4: Involved in game’s big incident when scythed down by Allan that led to Brazilian’s red card. Too easily pushed off ball in run up to Everton’s winner and was a liability for second substitute appearance in a row. Getty -
Jacob Murphy – (On for Fraser 85’) N/A. Getty -
Javier Manquillo – (On for Kafth 90+3’) N/A. AFP
“I’d say they’re on schedule from where they were given their respective injuries, but I wouldn’t say necessarily ahead of schedule,” Howe told the club’s official website.
“They’re both serious injuries, both enough to obviously be operated on and go through a very intense rehab period.
“Callum’s injury, you have to be very careful with, that we don’t push him back too quickly and he ends up injuring himself again because the Achilles/calf is a very delicate area of the body and you need to make sure it’s robust enough to withstand heavy load.
“Kieran’s is slightly different. [It’s] a bone injury and I think, touch wood, if he can come through the early stages of coming out in his boots and then progressing quite quickly, he’s one we could see back in action hopefully pretty soon.
“But with both injuries, I do think we have to be very cautious. We don’t want to re-injure the player.”
Newcastle resume their Premier League schedule on Sunday, April 3, when they face top-four chasing Tottenham Hotspur in London.
You can see images of the Newcastle squad training in Dubai in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.
