Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren believes the current squad has plenty of options available and he praised the staff for helping to build a strong roster.

The Magpies may have only added four new faces this summer in Georginio Wijnaldum, Chancel Mbemba, Ivan Toney and Aleksandar Mitrovic, but getting players back to full fitness has also been a huge boost.

It has allowed the manager to choose his team from a number of options and this was highlighted in the 2-2 draw against Southampton at St James’ Park on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

Newcastle handed debuts to Mbemba and Wijnaldum while the bench included the likes of Cheick Tiote, Rolando Aarons, Ayoze Perez, Siem de Jong and Mitrovic.

The strength and quality in the squad looks a lot better than last season but allowing two headed goals in against the Saints will have given McClaren something to think about with the transfer window shutting in just over three week’s time.

However, the former England manager is delighted with the work put in over the summer in terms of transfer and fitness and believes the club is in a good position right now.

“The staff have done a great job. I would really highlight that in terms of preparation,” he said. “We said we wanted a really big squad and want everyone to pick from, so we have a real headache.

“The staff and the players have done that in terms of their preparation.”

Newcastle return to Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to the Liberty Stadium to take on Swansea City and the visitors are priced at 4.00, a draw is 3.40 while the hosts are a 1.95 shot.