Chelsea fullback Patrick van Aanholt is looking forward to facing former club Newcastle United today.
His time on-loan at St James' Park was, Van Aanholt believes, an important period in his development.
"I was there for a month and had a great time. I went on loan to get more experience and to improve and it went very well for me, since then I have improved as a player and I still am but that was a very good move for me," Van Aanholt told chelseafc.com.
"It is always good to play in a winning team when things are going well, but it is also good to play when you are losing, then you see who the good players are and who stands up, that's what had happened earlier at Coventry, we were winning then losing and it makes you stronger, but at Newcastle we were doing well, so I experienced both sides and they were great experiences."
Football is of course a small world and it is not unusual to bump into a familiar face, but in the home team dressing room on Sunday, Van Aanholt will be reunited with a number of good friends made in a short period.
"I had a few friends there, especially Tim Krul the goalkeeper, who is also a Dutch Under 21 international, the forward Nile Ranger and Leon Best who I knew from Coventry, and he signed at the same time. I got on well with all the players but chilled out most with those guys," he explained.
"Tim called me after the game on Tuesday and we text a lot, I still see him with the Under 21s, but hopefully I will be texting him after the game and not the other way around!"
