Over the course of an exclusive, eight-page interview, the England international chats in-depth about his first week on Tyneside, his time in Madrid and the challenge ahead for Eddie Howe’s side in the second half of the campaign.

Ex-defender Barry Venison is the latest former Magpie to take part in Q&A Revisited, in which we bring back to light some of the quick-fire interviews undertaken by United players over the years and then see how many of their answers remain the same in the present day.

Midfielder Sean Longstaff discusses Disney films, frightening flights and the prospect of eternal life in The Toon Tombola, while Toonament History – the brand new feature in which we take a look back at Newcastle’s connections to football’s two biggest major tournaments – continues with a look at World Cup 1982 in Spain, where four former Magpies bosses were involved.

This week’s Guest Column, meanwhile, comes courtesy of Geordie darts star Callan Rydz, who embarked on a wonderful run to the last eight of the PDC World Championship a couple of weeks ago.

Club Historian Paul Joannou is back with one or two interesting recent finds, including a sketch drawn up for a controversial new stadium in Washington which would have seen United ground-sharing with Sunderland.

Further nostalgia comes courtesy of Stan Gate in Programme Matters, with Jay Turner-Cooke providing this week’s Academy Diary. Elsewhere, we find out a little bit more about Newcastle United Women’s Ellen Packham.

And, as always, we’ll have eight pages of coverage on our visitors, Watford, as well as skipper Jamaal Lascelles’ thoughts ahead of the game and boss Howe’s latest set of notes.

If you’re not able to make it on Saturday, you can still order your programme online – available on Curtis Sport’s website here.