Manchester City set for break in Abu Dhabi with friendly in new stadium• Gulf champions Al Ain to face Pellegrini's men
• Trip will not go ahead in event of FA Cup replayShare 11

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theguardian.com, Thursday 2 January 2014 14.03 GMT
Manuel Pellegrini is set to take his Manchester City players out to Abu Dhabi for a mid-season break. Photograph: Tom Yates/PA
Manchester City will fly to Abu Dhabi to play a friendly and enjoy a week of warm-weather training following the Premier League fixture at Newcastle United on 12 January providing there is no replay after Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie with Blackburn Rovers.

While the break is yet to be confirmed, if Manuel Pellegrini's squad do travel to the emirate they will play against Al Ain on 14 January to open the Arabian Gulf League champions' new stadium, the Hazza bin Zayed.

While Pellegrini has recently complained about the congested festive programme it is understood that he has no issue with this trip, with the match against Al Ain to have a more relaxed tempo than a competitive fixture.

City players will also have downtime to recharge their batteries. However, if there is a replay following the match at Blackburn, the trip will not go ahead.