Pundit Michael Bridges has claimed there was one Newcastle United player who played a key role in Newcastle United’s victory over Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
Dan Burn had been receiving a lot of criticism after a poor performance against Luton in which he made a couple of individual errors which led to goals.
There was some surprise that Eddie Howe chose to include him in the starting 11 against Forest, but speaking on The Optus Sport Football Podcast, Bridges claimed Burn had redeemed himself.
Bridges thinks Burn was brilliant for Newcastle against Forest
It wasn’t a vintage Newcastle display under Howe but it was certainly a big three points and a greatly needed victory after the disappointment to draw 4-4 against Luton just a week ago.
Having faced Elanga in the return leg and being beaten several times before eventually being subbed off after 55 minutes, Burn had a lot of work to do down that left-hand side.
The former Man United man did score in the first half after beating Burn for pace despite being a few yards behind the defender when the pass was first player, so things weren’t looking great for the former Brighton man.
However, Bridges believes the 31-year-old came out in the second half and proved all of his doubters wrong after what he claimed was a ‘brilliant’ performances in the final 45 minutes to secure the win.
On Burn, Bridges said: “I was very surprised that Dan Burn started and Livramento didn’t.
“The commentator Jim Proudfoot said to me, can you believe Dan Burn is coming out for the second-half of this game? I actually said, well, it’s a big call from Eddie Howe to take him off because you lose your aerial presence with him.
“And what they did, they actually made Anthony Gordon come back and help him out in a two vs one situation. And Dan Burn’s second-half performance illustrated why he should have played in that position. He redeemed himself basically.”
Newcastle on the road to recovery
As previously stated it was not your typical performance from a Newcastle team under Howe given their excellent defensive ability last season, but it was a step in the right direction.
Too many times have Newcastle put in a poor performance away from home and come away with nothing, but things are finally starting to look up for the Magpies who recorded four away wins in a row for the first time since Sir Bobby Robson was manager.
While it is their home form that now needs sorting out – their last win coming in the middle of December against Fulham – their position in the Premier League now looks a lot healthier.
Howe will be hoping that this win against Forest will be the perfect boost for his Newcastle players and that they can capitalise on it with another big win against Bournemouth this upcoming weekend.
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