Fabian Schär back in full training ahead of Aston Villa game

Fabian Schär has been sighted in full training ahead of Aston Villa's visit to St. James' Park on Saturday.

This should mean that the 31-year-old Swiss international is fit to start against Unai Emery's side, meaning Eddie Howe will have his first choice back four available to him.

It was expected that Jamaal Lascelles would partner Sven Botman in the heart of the Newcastle defence against the Villans at the weekend, with Schär not appearing in training pictures released by the club on Wednesday evening.

Schär only missed two league games last season, the losses at Liverpool and Manchester City, and was integral to Howe throughout the campaign. He also scored the first goal of the 2022/23 season on the opening day, a 20-yard thunderbolt against Nottingham Forest. What we'd give for another one of those on Saturday night...

You can watch the three-minute training video here, see if you can spot Wor Fabi at the 1:56 mark:

And we're sure that, like us, you'll take any excuse to watch that Forest goal again. Funnily enough, you'll want to head to the 1:56 mark again to see it: