Newcastle United coaching staff taking inspiration from the Bundesliga ahead of Premier League and FA Cup return

The top flight is aiming to restart from June 17, with Newcastle also in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and a tie against Manchester City to look forward too.

All games will be played behind-closed-doors as football comes to terms with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with the Premier League looking to follow the example set by the Bundesliga, their campaign restarting a couple of weeks ago.

"It would be a travesty if Liverpool were to be robbed of a Premier League title,” said Harper.

"I'm glad that we get a chance to finish the season and get a really good crack at the FA Cup.

"We're in the quarter-finals and have a difficult opponent.

"But if we can get through to Wembley it would be incredible for this club to win the cup."

Games will be screened live on TV with supporters having to make do with watching from the comfort of their home rather than the stadiums.

Harper admits the club’s coaching staff have been taking a keen interest in the German top flight to see how they are coping with the new norm and unusual atmosphere.

He added: "It's great to have something to measure it against.

"It is weird watching football without fans. The sound around the game is part of it.

"We do 11 vs 11 in training and ideally you'd have half a dozen pre-season friendlies.

"You have to do that in house and at the stadium to get players used to that.

"A packed St James' Park is a really big asset to us and we are going to lose that,” he told talkSPORT.

Newcastle’s FA Cup quarter-final was postponed in March following the suspension of football and it is now planned to play the tie behind closed doors on the weekend of June 27 and 28.

The game will be screened by the BBC, the semi-finals are pencilled in for the weekend of July 18 and 19.