Newcastle United changed shirts in the first half of their pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen.

The hosts walked out in their black and white home kit, which has a blue trim, but decided to ditch it during the first hydration break at St James’ Park on Saturday.

There was an apparent colour clash with Bayer Leverkusen’s away kit, which is mint with a blue pattern, so Newcastle players put on their lilac third strip instead.

Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle said: “I was a bit surprised when they came out for kick-off.

“[The change] was done because [the shirt colour] was so close to each other so it was smart to use the first hydration beak to change it.

“Probably from the stands, from your perspective, it was not easy to distinguish between the two teams.”

The German side went on to win the game 2-1.