Newcastle United are sweating on the fitness of Fabian Schar ahead of Saturday’s game against Bournemouth.
The Magpies made it nine wins in a row on Wednesday night, as Newcastle United beat Wolves 3-0 at St James’ Park.
They did it without Fabian Schar, who missed the game through illness.
He was not in the squad, as Sven Botman partnered Dan Burn at centre-back. Botman played brilliantly, suggesting he should be a permanent fixture in the Newcastle United starting XI.
That could be bad news for Schar, who may struggle to win his place back in the side – despite enjoying an excellent campaign so far.
Eddie Howe shares Fabian Schar update
It remains to be seen if the 33-year-old will be available for Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, and now Eddie Howe has provided an update on the central defender.
The Newcastle United manager addressed Schar’s fitness during his pre-match press conference, confirming that he has returned to training.
“We will make a decision on Fabian today,” he said.
“He trained yesterday but was not 100% – we will see how he has recovered today. Other than that, it is pretty much the same squad.”
Who should start at centre-back for Newcastle against Bournemouth
It is great news that Schar is back in training, but it does not sound like he is fully over the illness that forced him to miss the Wolves game.
With that in mind, it feels like Botman will retain his place in the starting lineup. That is as long as he is deemed fit enough, having only just returned from an ACL injury.
Newcastle United will be wary of not overplaying Botman, despite the Dutchman playing as if he has never been away.
Botman features in our predicted Newcastle XI to face Bournemouth, with Schar on the bench. No changes are anticipated, as Eddie Howe goes in search of a club-record 10 wins in a row.
The Magpies are on an incredible run, but so are Bournemouth. They are unbeaten in 10 games, while Eddie Howe has never beaten the Cherries in the Premier League since becoming Toon boss.
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