Newcastle United coach Terry McDermott says the fitness of midfield pair Geremi and Nicky Butt will be crucial this season.

"You need big characters like Nicky Butt and Geremi," he told the Evening Chronicle.

"Geremi was fantastic at Doncaster and he didn't want to come off - we had to drag him off in the end!

"If you look behind the result at Doncaster there were some decent performances. Geremi only trained for five days last week, but he still wanted to play. That shows you the sort of characters we've got here."