Fresh injury concern for Newcastle United as star misses Euro 2024 clash

Newcastle United are anxiously awaiting news on the fitness of Fabian Schar as the defender looks set to miss Switzerland's Euro 2024 qualifier with Israel on Wednesday night.

The former Deportivo la Coruna centre-back looked set to join Eddie Howe's lengthy list of absentees when he received treatment on a hamstring injury during the first-half of Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Premier League rivals Bournemouth.

Schar managed to feature for the entire 90 minutes on the south coast and joined up with the Swiss national team despite Howe admitting he was unsure how severe the defender's injury was in his post-match analysis.

The Swiss FA have now confirmed Schar will be absent during Wednesday night's game against Israel and the Magpies star is now undergoing a personal training programme with a fitness coach. A statement released to Swiss news outlet Blick explained Schar has suffered from a "high burden of the last few weeks' and is 'plagued by muscular complaints'.

The defender has featured in all but one of Newcastle's 18 competitive fixtures so far this season, with the Carabao Cup win at Manchester United earlier this month proving to be the only game he has missed during the first three months of the campaign.

Schar is not the only Magpies star to withdraw from international duty over the last week after injuries forced Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron out of action with England and Paraguay respectively. A niggling hamstring injury ensured Wilson returned to Tyneside and the thigh injury Almiron suffered in Saturday's defeat at Bournemouth meant he had to pull out of Paraguay's squad for World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Chile.

Wilson and Almiron are almost certain to miss United's return to Premier League action against Chelsea on Saturday week - but there are high hopes Alexander Isak could be back in contention as the Sweden star as he continues his recovery from the groin injury he suffered in the 1-0 Champions League defeat against Borussia Dortmund in October.

Howe confirmed Isak is 'on plan to return after the international break' and delivered updates on the comeback of summer signing Harvey Barnes and key defender Sven Botman.

“Alex is doing well,” the Magpies boss explained ahead of last weekend's visit to Bournemouth. 

“He’s building up his load to make sure he’s robust enough to return. His fitness levels and his groin at the moment, touch wood, feels good.  He’s on plan to return after the international break.

“I think he’s (Barnes) just started running.  He had to let his bone heal in his toe. Fingers crossed he’s on the right path. He’s probably one who won’t be too far away after the international break.

“(There is) no massive news regarding Sven, he’s been progressing well.  He’s been away in Holland getting specialist treatment there.  I think he’s back here so I’ll have a chat with him and see how he’s doing. Not to this level but it’s a difficult one because I don’t want to build it up any more than it is.”