Fabian Schar could be back in the Newcastle United starting XI for the West Ham game next weekend.
Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce has pulled the Swiss international out of the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers as a precaution on Sunday.
Schar started to feel a twinge in his knee against Chelsea during the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge and has not trained this week.
Bruce said today: "Fab has a bit of a sore knee that he’s been playing with for a few weeks.
"He'll not be fit for Sunday.
"He could be in contention next week."
The clash with Wolves comes too early for Frenchman Florian Lejeune, but Bruce said: "The good news is that Flo (Lejeune) is close to a return, and so is Matt Ritchie as well.
"He’s been bouncing around the training ground all week."
It means that both Paul Dummett and Federico Fernandez come into contention this weekend.
Bruce said: "It is part and parcel of football, and why we have the squads we have.
"When you have a team with a clean bill of health you can pick up a couple.
"It's the one area of the pitch I don't worry too much - we have six centre-backs here.
"In that respect, we have plenty of cover."
