Newcastle United travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, but Eddie Howe revealed in Friday’s pre-match press conference that Fabian Schar was an injury doubt going into the clash.
“We haven’t seen Fabian this week so we hope he will be back to be available. He got a knock on the top of his foot so he went for a scan immediately after the (Liverpool) game to check it wasn’t broken as it swelled up. Fortunately, there was no fracture.”
The 30-year-old picked up a knock on his foot in Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool and had to be replaced by Jamaal Lascelles. Howe said Schar hasn’t been training this week, so he’s unlikely to feature against the Premier League defending champions.
Lascelles should be given the nod at centre-back as a result. The 28-year-old was a regular during the first half of the season but eventually lost his starting place when new-boy Dan Burn arrived at St James’ Park in late-January – Lascelles has featured 23 times in the Premier League this season but has made just six top-flight appearances since Burn joined.
The uncapped Englishman may be playing for his future in Newcastle’s final few games. He’s fallen down the pecking order and won’t want to spend next season on the periphery, so games like Sunday will either be an audition to Howe or an opportunity to put himself in the shop window.
In other news, Joelinton has future at Newcastle despite pundit comment
