Eddie Howe rules Fabian Schar out of Newcastle United v Villarreal - and answers Tino Livramento question

Fabian Schar won’t be involved in Newcastle United’s friendly against Villarreal tomorrow (kick-off 4pm).

The Swiss defender picked up a hamstring injury in the first half of the Magpies’ 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the United States.

Magpies head coach Eddie Howe was asked about Schar’s fitness on Friday, where he revealed a late call would be made on his Sela Cup involvement.

And after missing the 2-0 win over Fiorentina, Howe confirmed the 31-year-old won’t be back in time to take on the Spanish club on Sunday.

He told NewcastleWorld: “He won’t feature tomorrow. Fabian is close to training and returning to the group but not in time for this game.”

Howe started with a back four of Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Alex Murphy and Matt Targett, which recorded the first clean sheet of pre-season.

“I was happy with that. As always with pre-season games you hope you come through it with no injuries and fingers crossed we’ve done that.

“We have a few tired bodies after 90 minutes but I think we’re looking stronger physically for the games that we’ve had and I think with another week’s training we’ll get to our optimal level.”

Tino Livramento watched on from the stands ahead of his £30million from Southampton being confirmed. Howe, however, remained coy.

“I’ve been preparing for this game and training with the guys who are playing [Sunday] so I have no update,” he said. “Until anything is signed, as I’ve said many times, I’ll talk as long as you want when they’re our player but until then I won’t.”