Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe is facing a tough decision against Wolverhampton Wanderers with Fabian Schar available again after a head wound.
Howe turned to his captain Jamaal Lascelles in the 2-0 loss at Manchester City at the weekend with the ex-Nottingham Forest defender picking up the man of the match award for Chronicle Live and other outlets. Howe must decide whether Schar walks straight back into his line-up against Wolves at St James' Park.
Lascelles has made just two Premier League starts this season and could be deemed hard done by if he is immediately benched this weekend. One of the key attributes Lascelles could bring to the table against Wolves - something that wasn't really seen at the Etihad Stadium - is his aerial threat from set-pieces.
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Newcastle have not scored for three and a half games since Miguel Almiron fired home an equaliser at Bournemouth last month. If Howe decides to leave Schar out it would break up the defence that had served Newcastle so well in the first half of the season.
Speaking in the build-up to the Super Sunday encounter with Wolves, Lascelles said: "We’re not that far off where we want to be as a team.
"We've got a great squad, we’ve got strength in every position and I like to think that it doesn’t matter how many changes are made, we’re still strong and our bench is really strong. It’s a good headache for the manager to have."
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