Colback: 'Focus Already On Hull'

By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor
In Dubai

Preparations for Newcastle's next Barclays Premier League game at Hull City started in earnest in Dubai on Tuesday.

While United's first day in the Middle East saw the travelling party split into two groups as the players recovered from the weekend's match against Southampton, the whole squad - minus Paul Dummett, who came off against the Saints with a slight hamstring injury - trained at Dubai Sports City on Tuesday morning.

The previous day's rain had given way to the sunshine which Dubai is more accustomed to and the team were certainly made to sweat as they were given several running drills before taking part in a number of attack-minded routines.

Afterwards, midfielder Jack Colback spoke to nufc.co.uk and explained: "We always have a tough session on a Tuesday and we trained hard here, then we'll be in the gym on the afternoon.

"It's hard work but the players knew it would be and it was a good session.

"Obviously, it's warmer than it is back home but we had a good session and it was nice to get that under our belt.

"I think it'll help us when we come back. Training in warmer weather is like pre-season - it's always more difficult - so when we come back it should feel a bit easier when we're training.

"We do gym work and everyone's got their own individual stuff that they do. We do it as a group and then people do it on their own as well if they want to do a bit extra.

"The gym work will be quite heavy today - we'll do a lot of leg weights and stuff, and that's important in today's game because you've got to be quick and powerful.

"We're training like would be back home with the focus on Hull. It's going to be a big game for us, one that we need to try and win. We want to get back to winning ways and set up the rest of the season on a positive note.

"Once you get Christmas out of the way, the games go back to one a week and when you miss a Saturday, it feels like a long two weeks without playing.

"We want to be in the cup still - we wish we were playing this weekend - but that wasn't to be so you've got to try and make the most of it and make the most of the two weeks by preparing well for the Hull game."