Hendrick and Clark training with Newcastle Under-23s

Republic of Ireland internationals Jeff Hendrick and Ciarán Clark are now training with the Newcastle United Under-23 squad as their time on Tyneside appears to be coming to an end.

The Daily Mail reports that manager Eddie Howe is looking to trim his bloated first-team squad for pre-season with the Irish pair, along with striker Dwight Gayle, deemed surplus to requirements and training at the academy base while the first-team squad heads for a training camp in Austria next week.

Central defender Clark, who joined from Aston Villa in 2016, slipped right out of the first-team picture in the New Year, with the last of his 13 Premier League appearances coming in January.

Capped 36 times by his country, his last appearance for Ireland came in the shock 1-0 defeat at home to Luxembourg and has been linked with Sheffield United and Birmingham City.

Hendrick, who has two years left on his contract, last played for the club in a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City last December before joining Championship side QPR on loan for the reminder of the season.

The 30-year-old featured in all four of Ireland's Nations League games last month and Reading are believed to be interested in the former Burnley player.