A different slant on a source of irritation for fans?

I hope you guys and gals are ready to get your fill of NUFC action Saturday?

I only say that as after the Everton game the domestic season once again grinds to a halt for yet another international break.

This forthcoming break will be the third of the season already and has caused some concern for Newcastle fans. Understandable really. We've been in great form and a disruption to the flow of games always leaves me wondering if we can return in the fettle we left off in. Fortunately it's not been an issue this season. International breaks are part of the football calendar. Love them or hate them or whether you're just plain indifferent to them they are here to stay.

I argued during the last one that the stance on international breaks is largely dependent on the form of the team. For example the last round of international matches was unwelcome as we'd been on a good run of form and didn't really want the break. In my view it would have been entirely different had we been on a poor run of form. Instead of a hindrance it would have been a chance to regroup etc etc.

I'm getting that feeling this time around.

You see once we come back from this international break we have that run of fixtures that is apparently going to send us crashing to earth - Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. For a number reasons I believe that this break is perfectly timed.

The first one is purely because we have players carrying knocks and players who are still injured. A two week break will allow players like Gabriel Obertan to near enough recover and for Mike Williamson to start training again and be available if needs be.

Then there is the rest that our players will get. It's been revealed just how hard our team works these days. Some players run over 13km during a match which is up there near the top of the distance charts. Inevitably this will take it's toll so a break in the fixture list is just the tonic to recharge those batteries.

Finally we have the opposition. The squads of all three of our post international break opponents are littered with international players. Ours isn't. While the majority of our players are resting up, the majority of their players will be in various part of the world carrying on with a hectic football calender. The unfortunate thing is that they have bigger squads with more quality in depth than us.

Maybe I'm looking into it too much, but for some reason I'm not annoyed by this upcoming break and feel that, for once, it could actually help us instead.

A positive slant on international footy? Surely not...