'Close' - Newcastle United new signing set to feature in Tokyo as Eddie Howe drops hint

The 25-year-old, who joined on a free transfer from AFC Bournemouth, was present with his new teammates for last week’s trip to Germany but didn’t feature in the 3-1 win over SpVgg Unterhaching at Adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach.

Kelly was again rested for Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Championship side Hull City.

Asked about the defender, Howe said: “With Lloyd it's just a case of building his training load, we train differently. There's differences and emotional feelings when you join a new club and you should probably give players a little bit longer to expose them to the really hard yards that will do in pre-season and they need to do for the new seasons.

“Everyone wants to see him, I want to see him but we've got to manage that process right.”

Nineteen players, including those recently on international duty, missed the visit to the MKM Stadium but Howe hopes the majority can get minutes in Tokyo this week.

Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock were among the notable absences while the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar and Miguel Almiron are expected to feature in friendlies against Urawa Red Diamonds and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Howe added: “We're in the process of trying to manage pre-season so we've got players at different stages and they're training and looking good. They're close to playing and some of those players were close to playing today but we decided not to with the majority of those and hopefully in Japan they will play some part.”

NewcastleWorld in Japan - thanks to our sponsor

Konnichiwa! Newcastle United are heading to Japan- and NewcastleWorld will be with the Magpies every step of the way.

Our Newcastle United writer Jordan Cronin will be there all week, providing coverage of the tour, behind the scenes video and analysis from the Far East.

And we’re proud to announce that our Newcastle United coverage of the tour has a sponsor! Every story from Japan will be sponsored by Mobility Care Solutions Ltd, with the shop’s official mascot Murphy!

Eddie Howe's men take on Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium on Wednesday, July 31. They then face J.League runners-up Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday, August 3.

For more information on Mobility Care Solutions Ltd click this link.