5 Heroes (And 5 Villains) From Sacramento Republic 0-1 Newcastle

2. Rolando Aarons

Aarons revealed last week that he shunned holidaying this summer in order to get back to peak physical fitness ahead of the 2015-16 season following an injury-plagued campaign last year - and boy did it show. The 19-year-old winger excited in the handful of performances he managed in 2014-15 and he did the same at the weekend. Filling in as a makeshift left-back/wing-back at times due to Massadio Haidara's dismissal, Aarons pelted down the flank and caused the Sacramento Republic defence all kinds of problems. Most notably, a wicked low cross for Ayoze Perez almost resulted in a second for the Magpies late on, and Aarons was a rare bundle of energy in the Magpies side as most of the Toon players wilted as the game progressed. If Aarons' fitness is up to scratch, it would be great to see what he'd be capable of from the beginning of one of the next couple of pre-season matches.