Source: Northern_Echo
Irish adventure one to savour for Guthrie
NEWCASTLE UNITED have convened at a Dublin training camp for the second successive summer, but midfielder Danny Guthrie insists the similarities between the two campaigns end there.[LNB] A year ago the Magpies were gearing up for an opening day trip to West Brom with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the club.[LNB] Twelve months later and as Chris Hughton puts his players through their paces in Ireland Guthrie revealed he is already buzzing at the prospect of a mouthwatering trip to Old Trafford that will mark the club's return to the top flight.[LNB] Guthrie believes the contrast with last season could hardly be greater.[LNB] It was great when the fixture list came out, especially the first game, said the midfielder, whose corner teed up Obafemi Martins' header that secured Newcastle a share of the points at Manchester United two years ago.[LNB] I think we all got that little buzz of excitement knowing we were back in the Premier League where this club belongs.[LNB] We couldn't have asked for a better game than Manchester United away. It was nice to get one of the big games first.[LNB] We don't see it as daunting, we relish the challenge.[LNB] No disrespect to the Championship, but nothing compares to Manchester United at Old Trafford, nothing comes close to it.[LNB] It's been a completely different feeling to last summer.[LNB] There was so much uncertainty this time last year when we came back for the start of pre-season.[LNB] It's been good to enjoy the summer knowing we have achieved what we set out to do last season, it's been a lot easier to kick back and relax knowing we're going to be back in the top league.[LNB] We know what the task is in front of us, it's going to be another hard season, but it's been completely different coming back this time. We know who the manager is and we know what we need to do.[LNB] It was chaotic last summer.[LNB] There was so much in the press and on the television.[LNB] But we came back last year knowing we needed to get a good pre-season under our belts and it's the same this time.[LNB] The trip to Ireland worked wonders for us last year and there is no reason why it can't do so again.[LNB] We bonded as a group last year out there, which was important for what we went on to achieve.[LNB]
