Carver takes Newcastle United players on warm weather break

JOHN Carver and his Newcastle United players will head to the Middle East next week – for a warm-weather training camp.

Caretaker head coach Carver is preparing his players for Saturday’s home game against Southampton.

United’s search for a successor to Alan Pardew, which is being led by managing director Lee Charnley, is ongoing.

Remi Garde remains the frontrunner, though it is thought he would prefer to take the job on in the summer.

And it remains to be seen whether the club will make a move in this month’s transfer window.

Newcastle’s squad, meanwhile, has a fortnight between games after the club’s FA Cup exit earlier this month, and the team will head to the United Arab Emirates between fixtures.

It mirrors a training camp in Abu Dhabi a year ago.

At the time, then-manager Alan Pardew was forced to defend the trip, saying it had been booked before the club’s third-round FA Cup defeat to Cardiff City.

This season’s trip was reportedly booked before Pardew’s departure for Crystal Palace earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Southampton have lost THREE players to injury ahead of the weekend’s Premier League visit to St James’s Park.

The third-placed side will be without Morgan Schneiderlin (adductor strain), while Victor Wanyama and Toby Alderweireld are sidelined with hamstring problems.

Southampton booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup by beating Ipswich Town 1-0 last in a replay at Portman Road last night.