Callum Wilson slams Newcastle pre-season training under Steve Bruce and says they weren’t ready for first game

CALLUM WILSON hit out at Newcastle’s pre-season under Steve Bruce – claiming they weren’t fit enough for the first game.

The Magpies are still without a win at the foot of the table and Wilson believes they were undercooked against West Ham.

Newcastle started on fire with Toon's No 9 putting them ahead at St James’ Park but ran out of steam and lost 4-2.

And Wilson reckons the summer preparations under Bruce – replaced by Eddie Howe after leaving in October – have handicapped them.

Speaking with Hammers star Michail Antonio on the The Footballer’s Football Podcast, he said: “I'd say first game of the season, we weren't fit enough in terms of being ready for a Premier League fixture

“We weren't fit enough and we weren't in the right place.

“The longer the game went on the more you overran us which probably boiled down to not being as fit as what we should have been.

“The way the game went it started turning into a basketball match.

“You attack, we attack, you attack, by the time it's the third attack I'm thinking 'Boy I can't go on that run again because I haven't got the energy.'

“Whereas you boys [West Ham} were like boom, boom, boom, keep going. That's the difference.

“The pre-season is massive for the way it sets you up for the season.”

Wilson, 29, played under Howe at Bournemouth – and he knows pre-season would have been very different under the ex-Cherries boss.

He added: “We had players that had Covid which hampered our pre-season but, I know when I've done a pre-season with Eddie (Howe), it's been all football-based with the ball.

“Big games with the ball and you're getting a lot of football fitness.

“There's running fitness and football fitness.

“A lot of managers will go for football fitness but some will go for just running and think you can run all day but when you actually get into football-specific movements and stuff like that, blowing out my a***.”