Newcastle beat Darlington 3-0 as Osula scores again in pre-season opener

Newcastle United got their pre-season preparations underway with a behind-closed-doors friendly with Darlington.

There are still plenty of players who haven't yet returned to training for Newcastle due to their involvement in the World Cup, but Eddie Howe's men had more than enough for the National League side.

Howe fielded two separate teams in the match, a different XI for each half:

Newcastle United (first half): Nick Pope, Leo Shahar, Alex Murphy, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall, Jacob Ramsey, Joe Willock, Sean Steur, Jacob Murphy, William Osula, Harvey Barnes

Newcastle United (second half): Ewen Jaouen, Mason Miley, Miodrag Pivaš, Luke Craggs, Dylan Charlton, Rory Finneran, Anthony Munda, Sean Neave, Trevan Sanusi, Park Seung-soo, Vakhtang Salia

Will Osula was on target again

Will Osula continued his goal-scoring form from the end of last season, adding to Joe Willock's 29th-minute opener, scoring from the spot on 35 minutes after Willock won the Magpies a penalty.

Youngster Sean Neave added a third in the second half, applying the finish after a good run midway through the second half.

The 19-year-old will be hoping to earn more involvement in the first team next season after making his Premier League and Champions League debuts last season.

Eddie Howe handed out two debuts

Sean Steur and Ewen Jaouen made their debuts with Jaouen keeping a clean sheet in his 45-minute outing, although he was rarely tested according to the NUFC match report.

The official website didn't give much away about how Sean Steur fared on his debut, but it sounded like a routine win for the Magpies. The perfect start to pre-season.

Next week, Newcastle will make the short trip to the Gateshead Stadium to play Heed in a 12:30pm kick-off.