'His hamstring' - Newcastle United fresh injury blow confirmed ahead of Ipswich Town

Schar scored twice at Villa Park in a 3-1 win last season but wasn’t able to help Newcastle continue their winning run on Saturday evening as Villa claimed a comfortable win.

After Ollie Watkins’ early opener, the Swiss defender headed Newcastle level before three goals in 11 second-half minutes saw the hosts claim a comfortable win.

Schar was then substituted in the closing stages of the match, with Emil Krafth seeing things out in the centre-back position. Newcastle’s centre-back options are slim at the moment, with Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles still recovering from injury.

And Schar looked in a bit of discomfort as he came off in the closing stages at Villa Park.

Jason Tindall confirms fresh Newcastle United injury concern

Explaining why Schar was withdrawn, Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall said: “Fabi was feeling his hamstring in the game, so he felt it was the wise move to bring him off and to try and protect him, to make sure that hopefully he's okay for the remaining games.”

After three games in six days with the same starting line-up, Newcastle now have a week to recover before their next game against Ipswich Town at St James’ Park.

Saturday’s defeat against Aston Villa means Newcastle are now just two points inside the Champions League qualification places and could drop as low as fifth by the time they face Ipswich. With five games left to play, they will be hoping for no more injury issues.

Newcastle United expecting an injury boost in the coming weeks

While there is concern over Schar, Newcastle have been pleased with the progress made by Sven Botman in his recovery from knee surgery.

There were fears Botman’s season could be over after he was forced to undergo surgery on a niggling knee issue that sidelined him for over a month following the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Arsenal.

Botman was given a six-to-eight-week recovery period from his surgery and is now approaching six weeks since his operation.

But the defender has suffered various issues with his knees over the past two seasons with two ACL injuries last season prior to his latest blow.

Earlier in the week, Jason Tindall suggested Botman was ‘ahead of schedule’ and would be back in contention ‘very soon’.

When asked about the defender’s availability ahead of the trip to Villa Park, Tindall told The Gazette: “Certainly not this weekend. It's too soon for him this weekend.

“But, as I said, he's ahead of schedule. He's on the grass now. He's joining in some parts of training. So maybe next weekend [against Ipswich Town], possibly, he could be involved or could be there for selection.

“But again, that will be assessed over the coming days. But we're certainly really, really pleased with his progress.”

Lascelles is pushing to return to contention before the end of the season after more than 12 months out with an ACL injury, though there are no guarantees he will be back. Lewis Hall has already been ruled out for the remainder of the season following foot surgery.

Your next Newcastle United read: Sandro Tonali price tag leaked in Italian media amid Juventus links - Newcastle United fans will laugh