Newcastle United forward Anthony Gordon walks back to the dressing room following his red card against Brighton
Newcastle United forward Anthony Gordon walks back to the dressing room following his red card against Brighton
Anthony Gordon 'stood up and took accountability' in the dressing room after the Newcastle United star was sent off and ruled out of the Carabao Cup final.
Gordon was shown a red card against Brighton last week after pushing Jan Paul van Hecke in the head. Howe stressed there was 'no intention' from Gordon to 'hurt anyone' and the Newcastle boss even suggested that van Hecke 'bending down made the push look worse'.
Although Newcastle discussed the prospect of appealing the three-match ban with lawyers, it was rather telling that the club did not feel that there were sufficient grounds to do so, which Gordon understood. Gordon, as a result, will miss the next three games, including the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool next week.
However, rather than sulk, Howe revealed that Gordon has trained 'really well' and been a support to his team-mates to 'push us on to achieve something great in his absence' after the England international addressed those around him following the defeat against Brighton.
"He said a couple of words to the players in the dressing room," Howe told reporters. "I think, at that stage, everyone was highly emotional anyway. He did the right thing and stood up and took accountability."
Newcastle have not only lost Gordon out on the left, of course, but, also, full-back Lewis Hall, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. The left-hand side has been a source of real creativity for Newcastle - Gordon has been involved in the most passing sequences leading to shots among Newcastle players while Hall is fourth on the list - but a different combination are going to have to quickly gel ahead of the trip to West Ham on Monday night.
"That's a challenge," Howe admitted. "That's a challenge we've been trying to work towards this week, finding solutions. I think Lewis and Anthony had a very good relationship. You could see that when they played.
"As they started to play games together and obviously train together and the number of times that they did, I think naturally you begin to understand each other's movements and preferences.
"So, yeah, potentially a new-look left side for us, but that doesn't mean it can't be really effective, especially with the players that we still have left available to play and the fortunate thing is, on that side of the pitch, there are lots of players that want or have enjoyed playing left midfield previously. The other side of the pitch has been a little bit more troublesome for us so, fingers crossed, we find the right solution."