EDDIE Howe says Newcastle United's players have reported back for pre-season fitter than they've ever been, with the head coach and his staff delighted with the results of tests conducted at the club's Benton base.

Howe and the strength and conditioning team set out a thorough summer plan for each individual player to ensure they were all in good condition for this week's return to the training ground.

After last year's success, Howe has also looked to replicate last summer's pre-season programme ahead of the gruelling campaign to come, with the Magpies planning for the Champions League as well as again challenging at the top of the Premier League.

And the early signs are extremely promising, with the results of the fitness tests on Newcastle's players as impressive as Howe has ever seen since he started out in management.

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While some of Newcastle's internationals have been given an extended break, the bulk of the squad reported back for pre-season at the start of this week ahead of the first friendly of the summer away at Gateshead on Saturday.

"The schedule this pre-season is very similar to last," Howe explained.

"We tried to recreate it as similar as we could, so it was a five-week lead in. Prior to the lads coming back we did a lot of individual work, but this is the first time the lads have come together collectively.

"As I said, we've tried to replicate as close as we can to last year which served us really well. We thought the pre-season was tough and prepared us for a Premier League season.

"This pre-season looks even tougher. The games will be really tough examinations but in some senses that's what you need, because we're going into the hardest league in the world and the Champions League and various other competitions.

"We know we're going to have to be ready from game one, so the pre-season is designed to get us to our optimum level fitness wise and tactically for Aston Villa at home.

"The lads have come back as fit as we've seen. We obviously keep fitness records going back to my first season in management and they're the best we've seen. We're delighted with the application but I didn't expect anything else from the group.

"It's good to see everybody and bring that unique feel that the lads have brought to the football club - the togetherness and spirit, really good attitude to the work. The lads have come back very fit. Because of the programmes we've been on and the various schedules we've individualised, the test results that we got were as good as we've seen, so really positive signs."

For the Newcastle players who have been in action over the summer and who have been given an extended break, a chance to refresh now will benefit the Magpies in the long run, says Howe.

He said: "They're working hard wherever they are in the world getting that mental refresh, which for us this season with the amount of games we have, it's slightly different season with the competitions we're in, Europe and a lot of travelling, so time away for them now is crucial so they come back ready to work and ready for the challenges that the Premier League season will bring."