Viana joins World Cup stars at St James's Park

BOBBY ROBSON welcomed his World Cup stars back yesterday as Newcastle's preparations for the new season slipped into top gear.

Kieron Dyer, Shay Given, Andy O’Brien and new boy Hugo Viana returned for pre-season training yesterday some 10 days behind the rest of their team-mates after being given time to recover from their exertions in the Far East earlier this summer.

Robson and his squad are due to jet out to Holland for the club’s pre-season training camp, during which they will play four low-key friendlies, on Thursday. Meanwhile, Viana will be able to spend the next few days getting to know the new faces after his £8.5 million move from Sporting Lisbon.