Ameobi's blind date

By Adrian Clarke

Newcastle United FC striker Shola Ameobi believes the club's training camp in sunny Dubai last week will prove to be the perfect warm-up for their crucial UEFA Cup tie against SC Heerenveen.

Welcome break
The Premiership side were whisked away to the Middle East for an impromptu winter break by manager Graeme Souness after a gap appeared in the club's domestic fixtures last weekend. And Ameobi is optimistic that the players will reap the benefits at the Abe Lenstra tonight.

Winter sun
"Having a change of scenery often does people the world of good, so why shouldn't it work for a group of footballers too?" Ameobi told uefa.com. "We trained every day we were over there, and we trained very well. It was winter in Dubai, so it wasn't baking hot, but it was still lovely to get a bit of sun on our backs. We are certainly all hoping that the trip will have a positive effect on the rest of our season - starting with a win at Heerenveen."

Difficult season
Souness's side are currently languishing in the bottom half of the Premiership despite boasting a squad full of experienced international players. Lying 12 points behind fifth-placed Liverpool FC, it now appears unlikely that the north-east giants will qualify for Europe next season - unless they win either the FA Cup or the UEFA Cup itself.

Crucial week
Nigerian-born striker Ameobi believes that is still a strong possibility despite Newcastle's inconsistent performances this term. "There is no doubt that we now face the most crucial week of our season," he said. "The UEFA Cup and FA Cup are our last chances of silverware, so with ties against Heerenveen and Chelsea [FC] to come this week, it's vital that we perform to our best over the next few days. This club needs a trophy and I firmly believe we can deliver it this year."

Feyenoord games
Despite their indifferent form, Newcastle's record against Dutch opposition has been impressive over the last two seasons. They lost 1-0 at home to Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League in the 2002/03 campaign, but the Magpies recorded a 3-2 win in Rotterdam to progress to the latter stages of the competition at the expense of the Dutch side.

Dutch scalps
Last season Newcastle beat NAC Breda 6-0 on aggregate in the early stages of the UEFA Cup before eliminating PSV Eindhoven 3-2 on aggregate in a closely contested quarter-final. But Ameobi admits he is unsure as to what to expect from Heerenveen, saying: "To be perfectly honest I hadn't heard of Heerenveen until we drew them out of the hat in the UEFA Cup. They are not a big Dutch club and to most of us they are a bit of a mystery, but I noticed that they have beaten teams like [AFC] Ajax and [VfB] Stuttgart already this season, so they must have a decent side."

Among the best
But the former England Under-21 star is sure that his side will be able to progress. "Despite the tricky nature of the tie I'm very confident that Newcastle can win both legs against Heerenveen and go through to the next round," he said. "We are an experienced side in Europe and must be one of the strongest teams left in the tournament. Reaching last year's semi-finals was a tremendous experience and we've challenged ourselves to go even better this time. We are definitely capable of doing it."

Shola Ameobi's personal website is at www.icons.com