With international week over, a selection of Newcastle players have returned home from their UEFA Nations League fixtures.
Newcastle’s list of European internationals is a lot less extensive than it once was, but there were still some names on show at UEFA’s new premier competition.
So which players have given Rafa Benitez something to think about?
A UEFA Nations League to remember
Fabian Schär
Since joining Newcastle for £3 million in the summer, Fabian Schär has found game time hard to come by.
However, he is still a regular performer for his national team and the Swiss star was desperate to prove his worth to Benitez.
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Switzerland played two UEFA Nations League fixtures against Belgium and Iceland in Group A2.
They narrowly lost 2-1 to Belgium in Brussels on Friday.
Despite keeping the Belgian front-line at bay for most of the game, Schär will be disappointed to have conceded a late goal from Romelu Lukaku.
Fortunately, it was a different story on Monday evening as the Swiss took home all three points against Iceland.
Schär played the full 90 minutes in an important 2-1 win against their famously dogged opponents.
The defender showed promise in both games and will have reminded Rafa that he is deserving of more game time.
Should injuries occur to current centre-back favourites Jamaal Lascelles or Federico Fernandez, Schär should provide more than able cover.
Martin Dúbravka
Martin Dúbravka is comfortably one of Newcastle’s best performers and his club form has seen him tie down Slovakia’s number one spot in the last year.
On Saturday, Dúbravka was in goal for Slovakia as they took on Czech Republic in League B1.
He initially impressed with a phenomenal save to deny Burnley’s Matej Vydra in the first half.
But unfortunately he was later beaten twice as they lost 2-1 with Slovakia now sitting bottom of their group.
Despite the result, Dúbravka still gave a good account of himself and will hopefully only continue to enhance his reputation for the Toon.
A UEFA Nations League to forget
Ciaran Clark
Ciaran Clark had a great chance to get back into the starting XI with some solid performances for Republic of Ireland this week.
But the centre-back was unfortunate enough to suffer a thigh injury in training on Tuesday. As a result he missed a vital UEFA Nations League clash against Wales in League B4.
He was also an unused substitute for ROI’s other group game as they drew 0-0 with Denmark on Saturday.
Clark will be bitterly disappointed at having missed an opportunity to prove himself and with Fernandez in impressive form, he looks unlikely to feature for some time.