The 22-year-old England Under-21 captain has been rested, along with club-mate James Milner, by international manager Stuart Pearce at the end of a tough season at St James' Park.

Taylor and Milner have spent much of the last two summers representing their country and suffered the heartache of a penalty shoot-out defeat in the European Championship semi-finals 12 months ago.

niggling ankle

The defender, in particular, admits he is looking forward to a break after playing with a niggling ankle problem for the last few weeks of a difficult campaign.

Taylor said: "Last summer I had a long week off and then I was back into pre-season.

"It will be nice to get six weeks off. There's no football over the summer, so I can relax. I can come back fresh and ready for next season."