Newcastle United receive major boost v Wolves as ‘outstanding’ player set for return

The former Swiss international was sent off just 30 minutes into the first game of the season with Southampton. His dismissal for violent conduct meant Schar was forced to serve a three-game ban and miss wins over Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the draw with Bournemouth.

In his absence, Emil Krafth was picked to fill in at centre-back alongside Dan Burn, with the Swedish international performing admirably in a slightly unnatural position. Speaking about Schar’s return and the impact Krafth has made in his absence, Eddie Howe was keen to praise the pair of them: “Fabian's ball playing abilities are unquestioned so we have missed that aspect of his game but I think Emil has done an outstanding job, I can't compliment him enough especially when you consider that it is not his first position. 

“He's been playing centre-half now for a while, we started that work with him at the back end of last season when we saw that as a position he could play in and play very well. He did that against Manchester United last year in the Carabao Cup, he was magnificent that night. It's an area that we see Emil developing more in as his career goes on with us but having that dual role is key - similar to the qualities Lloyd Kelly has in terms of playing both positions. But Fabian is unique and of course we've missed his outstanding qualities.”

Whilst Krafth has done little wrong during his time in the first-team, he is expected to drop out of the starting side for this weekend’s game. Krafth was forced to withdraw from international duty through injury and Howe has revealed that problem also forced him to miss training with the group.

“He's been nursing a problem but we have seen him in training.” Howe said. “He missed the training towards the back end of last week and the early sessions of this week but he's joined in the last couple of days so hopefully he'll be OK.”