Newcastle United could hand Mason Miley a major audition for the clash with Liverpool on August 23 - if the Magpies' transfer stalemate continues.
Toon boss Matthias Jaissle was asked directly if Amar Dedic was a deal that was moving closer as he faced up to reporters following the 3-1 loss to Everton, but he made it clear he would not delve into a game of "yes or no" on targets.
Miley's pre-season progress
As things stand, with Tino Livramento injured, 17-year-old Miley, the younger brother of Lewis, has been grappling for the right-back slot with Leo Shahar and currently anybody who has watched all the pre-season games may argue they are neck and neck.
Some might even suggest that Miley is inching ahead of Shahar, although the ex-Wolves youngster does have a bit more experience than the Stanley kid who only signed a pro deal this summer.
Nevertheless, Miley showed he can deal with life on the big stage and even gave as good as he got during a spat with Jacob Murphy in the second half as the pair tried to work an understanding.
Young back four tested
Miley was part of a back four of kids which also included Henry Johnson, Miodrag Pivas and Dylan Charlton in one of the youngest back fours ever witnessed in a senior game.
The youthful looking back four did not hold out for a second half clean sheet as Tyrique George's goal dented those hopes but at least they didn't lose the 45 minutes they were involved in.
Jaissle has no choice but to take all of the youngsters seriously, knowing he may have to blood one of them against the Reds.
The Toon boss said: "It's a really young team at the moment, so there are vacuums where players need to step up. We fill these positions we lost with the experienced players, but that's also the process."
Murrayfield experiment mixed
If this was an experiment to see how many Newcastle fans would find a way to Edinburgh for a random Wednesday teatime fixture, it had mixed results.
Some suggest that Newcastle could look to Murrayfield as a temporary home if St James' Park gets renovated in the years to come, and after Leazes Terrace was snapped up by the club, that remains an 'option' on the table depending on who you speak to.
A crowd of 22,982 showed up at Murrayfield, meaning the 67,144 venue wasn't even half full but regardless of that, to have more than 10,000 Newcastle fans travelling north of the border for a friendly was highly respectable. The truth is though, this fixture did not capture the imagination of the Scottish public either, and the top tiers sat empty.
Reality check served
As good as the 2-1 win in Valencia was at the esteemed Mestalla, Newcastle came crashing down to earth at Murrayfield.
A failure to finish after a good opening 20 minutes suggested the team played with naivety because Everton were always going to have a spell, and they would take it to storm into a 2-0 lead.
Newcastle's failure to finish has haunted them all pre-season, to be honest, with Yoane Wissa's double in Spain a rare moment of joy for travelling fans. Few are going to write home about an own goal at Gateshead and two Harvey Barnes consolation strikes at Bristol City, in a 4-1 defeat, and last night in Edinburgh.
Two more friendly games at St. James' Park now await us against Bayer Leverkusen, which won't be a cakewalk, and then Ligue 1 Strasbourg before the real stuff starts.
A few positive signs won't go a miss, but Jaissle will want to see his players rediscover the spirit of the Mestalla over the weekend and start taking those golden chances when they come.
