The 13 Newcastle United players who must impress Eddie Howe in Portugal – five that already have

Newcastle will face Benfica at Estadio da Luz on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off) for what is set to be their toughest test of pre-season so far.

In total, 24 players were involved in the training matches against Burnley on Saturday including Matty Bondswell and Santiago Munoz.

Under-21s players Jay Turner-Cooke and Alex Murphy have also made the journey to Portugal but aren’t expected to feature.

In terms of first team players, Martin Dubravka, Chris Wood, Jamal Lewis, Fabian Schar, Federico Fernandez and Kell Watts all missed the training session with Burnley and it remains to be seen whether they will be involved against Benfica on Tuesday night.

Several players are facing uncertain futures at Newcastle this summer and will be keen to impress while away this pre-season.

For others, it’s about securing a place in the starting line-up for the opening day of the Premier League season against Nottingham Forest on August 6.

Every player will want to make an impact in pre-season ahead of an important campaign for Newcastle. But there are some whose future or place in the side could be dictated by the impact they make this July.

After facing Benfica, The Magpies will return to the North East to host Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao at St James’s Park on July 29 and July 30 respectively.