Newcastle United receive double training ground fitness boost as six ruled out v Southampton

Fabian Schar took a knock to his ankle and had to be withdrawn in Newcastle’s final friendly match against Stade Brestois last weekend, sparking fears he could miss the opening day of the season. But the Swiss centre-back has since returned to full training and is in contention to start against Southampton at St James’ Park.

“We're hopeful Fabian will be okay,” Howe said. “He felt the impact of the tackle earlier in the week but we're hopeful he will be fine.”

Matt Targett also returned to training this week after more than nine months without a competitive match. Saturday’s game against his former club is likely to come too soon for the left-back.

Lewis Miley (foot), Joe White (back), Callum Wilson (back), Sven Botman (knee) and Jamaal Lascelles (knee) remain sidelined.

Explaining his side’s injury situation heading into the new season, Howe said: “We're definitely in a better position than we were [last season].

“We've got Nick Pope back fully fit. Joe Willock is in a lot better place, I wouldn't say he's 100% match fit. He's had two games, trained well but he's certainly on the road to being back to the player we all know and love.

“Several other players are in a lot better physical condition than last year - we've got Sandro [Tonali] obviously close to returning but we still have the legacy of the injuries from last year with Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman.

“We lost Callum during the early stages of pre-season, Lewy Miley, Matt Targett is making his early steps back, he's trained this week which has been brilliant and he's trained really well. We've still got work to do but we're very much in a better place.”