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England set to play at St James' Park for the first time in nearly 20 years

  /  autty

England are set to play Bosnia in a pre-Euros friendly at St James' Park this summer.

The final details are still to be confirmed, but we understand Gareth Southgate's side will travel to Tyneside for a warm-up fixture on Monday June 3.

Bosnia will be the opposition and that gives the England boss a chance to test his side against a team of similar style to Serbia and Slovenia, who they face in the group stage of Euro 2024. The three countries are all former Yugoslav states.

There will be a final friendly at Wembley before the squad travel to Germany ahead of their opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16.

Before then, England face Brazil and Belgium at Wembley in March.

It is nearly 20 years since they last played at St James', when Steven Gerrard and David Beckham scored in a 2-0 win for Sven-Goran Eriksson's side against Azerbaijan.

Newcastle stars such as Kieran Trippier, Anthony Gordon, Nick Pope and Callum Wilson will be hoping to be part of Southgate's plans and feature in the fixture at their home ground.

But because the Bosnia game is scheduled for the start of June, it is likely that any England players featuring in the Champions League final at Wembley on June 1 will be unavailable.

Similarly, the Europa Conference League final is on May 29.