The Switzerland international was withdrawn during the 1-1 draw with Chelsea in Atlanta last month and missed the subsequent wins over Brighton & Hove Albion, Fiorentina and Villarreal.

But head coach Howe confirmed that the 31-year-old was likely to return to the United squad when Villa arrive at St. James' Park to kick-off the 2023/24 season (5:30pm kick-off).

Schär's fitness was among a number of topics up for discussion when Howe spoke to the media at the Magpies' Benton training centre ahead of this weekend's big kick-off. Here are some of the other matters the Newcastle boss spoke about on Friday morning:

On defender Fabian Schär, who missed last weekend's Sela Cup double-header through injury...

"As we currently stand, yes he will be (in the squad). He's trained this week, and he's trained well, so he was back with us on Tuesday. He's had a full week's training."

On his side's readiness for the new season...

"I feel we're in a good place. It was an intense pre-season period for us, especially with the trip to Amercia. With the travelling and everything that comes with it, playing in different places, it was a really good experience. We enjoyed it from lots of different aspects.

"We came back and it's been really good to get the two weeks back here. The double-header at the weekend finished off where we needed to be. I think now we enter the season probably where you'd expect to be after a full pre-season - fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge."

On Aston Villa, who Newcastle drew 3-3 with in the Premier League Summer Series last month, and his opposite number Unai Emery...

"If you look at last season and the job that he did - and we obviously encountered one of those wins that they got towards the end of last season - I thought they were excellent against us. I think he's done a magnificent job, I think his players have done a magnificent job as well and they narrowly missed out on getting close to us.

"We know it's going to be difficult. We've played against them again in pre-season, so I think we know each other quite well and I think there's a lot of healthy respect between the two teams. It's the Premier League, though - there's several teams in our bracket, as in vastly improved and looking upwards, so we're not alone. That's where the Premier League is such a special league, because there's no guarantee for any of those clubs that that momentum will continue."

On new signing Tino Livramento, who completed his move from Southampton earlier this week...

"There's a lot to like. He's very athletic, incredibly quick, dynamic, got really good endurance levels so he'll be box-to-box, technically very good, he's a great age. He's back after a long injury and he's done all of pre-season so far with Southampton - he's not missed a day - so he's looked in really good physical condition, we've watched all his pre-season games. I think that just needs to be taken into context, that we need to look after him, but he's a really exciting player.

"He's fully fit and he's training, so there's no issues there, it's more for us to be mindful of his load and all the things that come with signing any new player, (like a) change in training intensity. All those things are important things that we try and get right. He's already impressed me greatly in training this week. An exciting signing."

On the eagerly-anticipated new campaign and managing expectations...

"I want the same things (as the fans). But I think in my experience here when we've played home and away the big thing the supporters have wanted is a team that tries, a team that will run, a team that will work and show that we're there to win - or to try and win, you can't always guarantee that. That's the first port of call for me as the manager that I need to see from the players week-in, week-out.

"That desire to do everything they can to get positive results, the work ethic, hunger, the body language, the attitude to the game - we're really proud to represent the city and the football club, and that has to show as a baseline. Everything else on top of that, for me, comes as a bonus."