Wednesday, 26th June, 2013
Newcastle United defensive midfielder Cheick Tiote insists he cannot wait for the new season to get started.
From 3rd July, the Magpies’ players will start reporting back to the club’s training ground in three separate groups for testing in preparation for their pre-season opener against Scottish side Motherwell on 16th July.
The Ivory Coast international is amongst five players who have been given extra time to recover from a long and tiring season.
Tiote, who celebrated his 27th birthday last week is confident that Newcastle will perform much better this season.
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Alan Pardew’s men endured a difficult season last term around in which they barely avoided relegation and finished in 16th place in the Premier League.
Newcastle will start their new season with a tough fixture against last year’s runners-up Manchester City away at the Etihad Stadium.
Tiote told the club’s official site: "Last season was not the best for Newcastle. It was a hard season in the Europa League and the Premier League but we’ve had some time off to rest now.
"It was really difficult for all the team but when you see the season, the most important thing was just to stay in the Premer League.
"That’s what we did and now we need to prepare and be ready for the next season.
"When we look at last season, we cannot imagine to have the same season as this next year so I think it will be better."
Tiote has been at Newcastle since 2010 and has amassed more than 70 league appearances for the club.
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