Newcastle United are weighing up whether to expand or build a new ground - but that has not stopped the Magpies from making improvements to St James' Park in the meantime.

Having upgraded the PA system with new speakers in several areas of the stadium, and committed to investing significantly in better 5G connectivity, Newcastle have now given the players' tunnel a refresh. The walls on either side of the first set of stairs have been painted black with the words 'we are' plastered in white on both. As the players then make their way towards the pitch, 'united' has been splashed on one wall and 'ready' on the other alongside updated sketches of Newcastle fans.

The players walked out of the newly-decorated tunnel last week when Eddie Howe's side thumped Arsenal 2-0 to reach the Carabao Cup final on a night St James' was at its febrile best.

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"I'm sure for a lot of people watching that game, not connected with Newcastle, you think, 'Wow, what an atmosphere, what an environment to play in,'" the Newcastle boss said.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of people looking at that and thinking, 'How can we create that atmosphere at our stadium?' We're very lucky to have the facilities that we have and the supporters that we have but, of cour there's other challenges and other things that we now need to look at as a football club and try to improve.

"Various things as we've said before about the importance of our income. So it is a real delicately poised decision and of course I'm not making that decision which is quite a relief, really, for me. I can blame it on someone else. But I think it's it just goes to showcase what a special place St James' Park is."