Eddie Howe reacts to Anthony Gordon ‘spat’ after Newcastle United substitution

Eddie Howe insists there is “no problem” with Anthony Gordon after the Newcastle United star took the huff at being substituted.

The £45million January signing from Everton was introduced at half-time in place of Jacob Murphy and helped change the game against Brentford.

United trailed 1-0 after Ivan Toney’s first-half penalty but flipped the end result on its head following an own goal from David Raya and a lovely strike by Alexander Isak.

Gordon was replaced by Matt Ritchie during injury time, and the winger didn’t react well to Howe’s decision. The Magpies’ head coach went to console the 22-year-old but Gordon shrugged him off.

“No problem,” said Howe. “Anthony’s a passionate boy, he wants to do well. There were seconds left on the clock and we wanted to get Matty on because Anthony was holding his ankle.

“He just needs to control his emotions in that moment but there no problems.”

Speaking to BBC, Howe added: “From my side, there were 30 seconds left and he [Anthony Gordon] was down holding his ankle so I put an experienced player on the pitch. It is no reflection on his time on the pitch [to take him off].”

Explaining the decision to bring Gordon and Callum Wilson on at half-time, Howe added: “We changed things tactically [in the second half]. Sometimes that can give you a lift in itself.

“We knew we were desperate for the result and threw caution to the wind a little bit. The players responded well physically, even though we were a little bit fatigued from the week we have had. That is down to the characters we have.”