Atsu makes fourth consecutive appearance in pre-season friendly

Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu was given a fourth consecutive run-out in a pre-season friendly against Stoke City over the weekend.

The 28-year-old climbed off the bench to feature 20 minutes against the Championship side.

The future of the Black Stars winger has been hugely speculated with Scottish giants Celtic believed to be interested in his signature.

It's unclear if Atsu can be guaranteed regular playing time and may have to look elsehwere.

But after featuring in the side's last four pre-season friendly matches, there could be some glimmer of hope for the Ghanaian star.

Newcastle’s prep work over the last few weeks has been building up to next weekend’s Premier League opener against West Ham United.

With just under 250 minutes to his name in friendly matches so far, the winger looks to be in good shape ahead of start of the Premier League.