The Magpies are currently 13th in the table, but the gap between themselves and the bottom three is just four points with eight games to go.

Rafa Benítez's side were 3-0 winners against Southampton two weeks ago, but a combination of Tottenham's progress in the Emirates FA Cup and the current international break has left Pérez and his team-mates kicking their heels ever since.

Last week, Newcastle flew to Spain for a four-day training camp and a friendly against Belgian side Royal Antwerp, and Pérez told nufc.co.uk: "It was a great couple of days; good weather, great training sessions and a great game as well, to keep the fitness up.

"It wasn't really sunny, not really hot, but it was I think the proper weather for football, the right temperature, so it was really good. We had three days of spending time together and training really hard with double sessions, so in terms of hard work, we did it.

"It was the right idea to get a friendly game, with 21 days without football. The legs need to keep working, and we did it well.

"Now, we're back in Newcastle and we've still been working really hard, so it's been a great idea to keep ourselves fit. Now we have a couple of days off (the players have Saturday, Sunday and Monday off) to rest ourselves and get back fresher.

"For the last few days it's been back to normal. We've still been training a lot; great training sessions, hard work, trying to improve little things. We haven't had the international boys but we've still been working and trying to make sure we are doing a lot of positive things."

When the players reassemble at the club's Benton base on Tuesday, work will begin in earnest ahead of the visit of Huddersfield Town.

The Terriers, like United, are still looking over their shoulders as they look to ensure their top flight survival and Pérez said: "That game, at home, with our fans, is going to be another final.

"It's been like that over the last couple of months; every point is like gold, so it's going to be a massive game.

"If we can win this game, we'd be really, really close, we'd have it in our hands, so that's the importance of the game. We will make sure we compete and we're ready for that fight, because its going to be tough."