Game on! Newcastle v Fiorentina.

Well that's just about it for pre-season as today signals the final friendly match ahead of the big kick-off against Arsenal next week.

Seria A outfit Firoentina are the visitors today as Alan Pardew and Co look to finalise their pre-season preparations against one of the stronger opponents that we'll have faced over the summer.

Kick-off is at 3pm and those going to the match can expect to see the vast majority of our new arrivals in action for the vast majority of the game according to John Carver. That means that we are likely to see another full game for Yohan Cabaye with, hopefully, appearances from Sylvain Marveaux and Demba Ba for good measure.

Hatem Ben Arfa continues his recovery from an ankle ligament injury along with Shane Ferguson and Danny Guthrie although both are said to be recovering well from their respective injuries. Cheik Tiote is still away in Ghana sorting out "Visa issues" whilst Joey Barton will sit on the naughty step for the match thanks to his Twittering so neither of those be featuring either.

The team is as follows:

Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Jose Enrique, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Dan Gosling, Yohan Cabaye, Haris Vuckic, Jonas Gutierrez, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best.

Subs: Fraser Forster, Ryan Taylor, Mike Williamson, Sylvain Marveaux, Nile Ranger, James Tavernier, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi, Demba Ba.

Fiorentina finished in 9th place in their domestic league last season as they continue to rebuild the club back to the glory days of days gone by. They should, in theory, be a little bit behind us in terms of preparation as the Italian season starts two weeks later than ours which mean that we should be that little bit fitter.

All in all a nice run out, a win, and no injuries would be a great result for the day as Newcastle appear in front of their own fans for the first time since the final day of last season. Hopefully the new lads and some of the young'uns can show the fans what they are about.

If anyone knows of an internet stream where we can catch the match then please feel free to share with your fellow Newcastle fans. Personally I don't hold out much hope so I'll settle for anything - even radio.

Howay the lads!