Fabian Schar Injury: Targeting return against Palace

Schar (ankle) is expected back for the trip to Crystal Palace after the international break, with manager Eddie Howe saying "Hopefully, we can get him fit. We've got a good period of training time with him, so the Palace game, I'm sure, will be a target for him, whether that's realistic or not. But let's wait and see," Sean McCormick of Chronicle Live reports.

Schar has been sidelined since Jan. 7, but there's hope he'll give a boost to a back line that recently lost Sven Botman (head) for upcoming contests. The Swiss international will aim to complete his recovery in the next few days and eventually contend for a starting spot. Prior to the injury, he was averaging 4.4 clearances per game and contributed to four clean sheets over 11 league starts.