How Harvey Barnes felt about replacing suspended Anthony Gordon at Newcastle United following injury layoff

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Harvey Barnes started in Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win against Liverpool, replacing the suspended Anthony Gordon.

The one-time England international has taken the renewed amount of game time in his stride throughout the two games he has played, but it came around in the poorest of circumstances.

Anthony Gordon was sent off for Newcastle United after a moment of madness during their FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in February. The red card meant that not only would he miss the Magpies’ upcoming Premier League games, but also the highly important Carabao Cup final.

Gordon missed Newcastle’s 2023 final, having played for Everton in the earlier stages of the competition, so to miss the occasion again was devastating for him.

Harvey Barnes was thrown back into Newcastle’s starting XI in Gordon’s absence for their trip to West Ham a few days before the final. After an initially shaky start, Barnes assisted Bruno Guimaraes to secure the three points for Newcastle and kept them as firm contenders for a Champions League place.

Barnes was excellent for Newcastle in the final, helping in the build-up to Alexander Isak’s goal before being unfortunate not to pick up an assist when his pass to the Swede was palmed away.

The 27-year-old is set to start once again for the Magpies when they take on Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday, but he has now said how he really feels about getting back into the squad following an extended period out.

• READ MORE – Anthony Gordon breaks silence with 19-word message after Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup final win

Harvey Barnes focused on himself after more minutes for Newcastle

2025 got off to a bad start for Barnes after he picked up an injury during Newcastle’s FA Cup win against Bromley.

The problem kept him out for a month, but Barnes returned for Newcastle against Manchester City, but was an unused substitute as the Magpies were well beaten on the road.

Before the final, there was speculation that Barnes would not play for Newcastle, with Joelinton being tipped to start on the wing instead. However, his positive performance against West Ham made it difficult to drop him.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Barnes was asked about his return to the starting XI after so long out of it.

“I know it has not been smooth, but you just have to be ready when an opportunity comes your way,” he said.

“I had not started a game for three and a half months, then all of a sudden you are thrown in against West Ham, and then you have a cup final at the weekend.

“If you are not ready for those opportunities, you are not only going to let yourself down but also the team. That was always in my head whenever I came in was to do myself justice.”

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Harvey Barnes shares details of internal meeting with Newcastle players

For Eddie Howe and his players, it is all eyes on the remaining 10 games of the Premier League season.

The Magpies are currently sixth in the table with a game in hand over Manchester City and Chelsea above them, a win on Wednesday, coupled with a win over Crystal Palace in their game in hand will see them move into the top four – giving them all the impetus they need to finish in one of the Champions League spots.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	ChelseaChelsea	29	14	7	8	53	37	16	49
5	Man CityManchester City	29	14	6	9	55	40	15	48
6	NewcastleNewcastle	28	14	5	9	47	38	9	47
7	BrightonBrighton	29	12	11	6	48	42	6	47
8	FulhamFulham	29	12	9	8	43	38	5	45

From the same Chronicle interview, Barnes revealed a meeting between himself and the rest of the squad to talk about what they can achieve after their Carabao Cup heroics.

“There is plenty to play for in the last 10 games. We have had that chat to ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve had this massive high, and we should be enjoying it; we are. But there are 10 games to go and I know we have obviously achieved Europe with winning the Carabao Cup but obviously we want to push ourselves as high as we can in the Premier League and the Champions League is obviously our aim this year. We have got our heads back down after the celebrations, and now we focus.”