Jonas Gutierrez returned to football yesterday after his battle with testicular cancer, playing 87 minutes for Newcastle’s Under-21 side.

The 31-year-old was diagnosed in 2013 and underwent surgery in his native Argentina before moving on loan to Norwich for the remainder of last season.

Gutierrez did not make his health issues public until September and since then he has been discharged from hospital and has begun training — with the match yesterday bringing him closer to a first-team return.