Newcastle United journalist Chris Waugh has been discussing Fabian Schar and his fitness situation ahead of the weekend.
Having started off the season struggling to get into the team, the 30-year-old Swiss defender eventually managed to find his place, but didn’t have much of a positive impact, as he played his part in a defence that by the turn of the year had conceded 42 goals in 19 games.
However, the partnership that he has developed with January signing Dan Burn has really helped the Newcastle defence and has helped turn them into one of the best in the league in recent weeks, conceding just seven goals in their last 10 games.
However, that partnership could be under threat following recent developments on international duty.
He had to withdraw from the latest Switzerland squad with an injury, but speaking on the Pod On The Tyne podcast, Waugh explained more about what the injury situation was and that he would be assessed ahead of their game this weekend against Tottenham Hotspur.
Waugh said: “Fabian Schar was expected to be involved [against England] but actually withdrew from the Switzerland squad.
“He’s had a bit of a groin problem for a while, he was obviously forced off in a game a few weeks ago and hopefully that is precautionary in that regard, because he’s [the] first-choice defender for Newcastle – him and Dan Burn have struck up that successful partnership hopefully at centre-back at the moment. So he will be assessed this week.”
TIF Thoughts on Chris Waugh’s comments on Fabian Schar at Newcastle United…
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If it is just a precaution as Waugh hints it might be, that is a real positive for Newcastle, because the partnership between Schar and Burn is something they really can’t afford to have broken up right now.
Whilst they have been on a decent run in the past 10 games, they have lost two in a row, and a few more of those results could drag them back into the thick of a relegation battle, so Newcastle are going to need to be at their best in order to stay on the right path when it comes to staying up, and that involves keeping those two together.
So hopefully it is something that won’t rule him out for this weekend, or at the very least keep the damage to a minimum so he doesn’t miss too many games going forward.
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