It's Christmas Day! There's presents to open, lots of food to be eaten and quality family time to be enjoyed - but only after you've popped to the training ground for a light session first.
That's what the Newcastle United players will be doing on December 25th, as Eddie Howe, his staff and his players plan to start their day with a light session at the club's Benton base as they prepare for the visit of Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
"We will get them in training but won't keep them for any longer than they need to be in and then they can enjoy Christmas like everybody else," Howe told reporters on Monday.
This is nothing new and most Premier League teams - even Manchester City who usually feel they can take the day off - will be at their respective training grounds in preparation for the post-Christmas fixtures. However, one present dished out for Newcastle is the fact their Boxing Day clash is at home - which means no travelling down the country.
This, according to Magpies legend Shay Given, is one of the most important factors for players when the Premier League fixture list is released before the season starts.
"When you look at the fixtures as a player you’re looking at Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, to see ‘are we home or away’," he said in recent years. “There was a period where Newcastle had about seven or eight consecutive away games on Boxing Day. It felt like we’d been totally jinxed!”
That boost will hopefully not only come good on Christmas Day but on the day of the game itself as Newcastle look to continue their fine form of recent weeks. Howe's side have recorded two impressive wins at St James' Park of late and thrashed Thursday's opponents, Aston Villa, 5-1 on Tyneside just last season."
"Previous games don't tell you anything about what is going to happen in the future," Howe said of Unai Emery's side this week. "We really enjoyed playing at home in the last few games. Our home performances in general have been very good, so more of the same would be very welcome.
"This will be a really good challenge for us. I think they have good depth in their squad, they have some really good players. Their style is very difficult to play against, they're very well coached, very well drilled."