Anthony Gordon watch out as Brighton star makes demand ahead of Newcastle United clash
Anthony Gordon and Jan Paul van Hecke clashed during the last time Newcastle United and Brighton met.
Brighton & Hove Albion defender Jan Paul van Hecke has declared himself fit to face Newcastle United on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).
The 24-year-old suffered a nasty head injury during Brighton’s recent 4-2 defeat at Brentford and was forced to miss last Saturday’s dramatic late 3-2 win at home to West Ham United.
Van Hecke’s absence saw midfielder Carlos Baleba drop into central defence alongside skipper Lewis Dunk. However, he is expected to reclaim his spot against Newcastle. The Dutchman has been cleared to play after coming though concussion protocols and has told Fabian Hurzeler he wants to start.
The Brighton manager revealed at his pre-match press conference: “He is ready to start. He trained yesterday and, after training, he immediately came to me and said he wants to play.”
Jan Paul van Hecke & Anthony Gordon incident
Van Hecke took centre stage when Brighton won 2-1 at St James’ Park in the FA Cup fifth round in March after he got Anthony Gordon sent off.
Referee Anthony Taylor had already blown for offside when Gordon pushed van Hecke in the head. The Albion defender responded by throwing himself to the ground.
Gordon’s red card resulted in a three-match ban, forcing him to miss Premier League matches against West Ham United and Brentford, and the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Explaining why Newcastle didn’t appeal the red card, Eddie Howe said: “We discussed it as a club, with the people that we needed to discuss it with, lawyers etc and we felt that there probably wasn’t sufficient grounds.
“There was no intention from Anthony Gordon. Without going into too much detail on the actual event itself, I think the Brighton player sort of bends down and it makes the push look worse.
“There is no intention from Anthony to hurt anybody but you have to look at it and think ‘does this [appeal] have a chance of being successful?’ If there is no chance of being successful, what is the point of appealing? So Anthony understands.”
That was Gordon’s last start for United after missing an additional game due to an injury picked up on international duty with England.
The 24-year-old has been back available for the last four fixtures but has had to settle for a place on the bench due to the form of Harvey Barnes, who has scored four goals and registered four assists in his previous eight Premier League matches.
Asked about selecting Barnes over Gordon after last weekend’s 3-0 win over Ipswich, Howe revealed the latter is still carrying an injury.
Howe said: “Yeah, I think Harvey's been outstanding since he got his opportunity in the team. I think he grabbed it with both hands and that's all he can do.
“Anthony, I don't think is still 100% match fit. This week in training, he's still aware of some feeling in his knee so we need to protect him and make sure that when we bring him back into the team that he's 100% fit.”