Newcastle United continued their march towards Champions League football for next season with a 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Southampton last Sunday.
A second-half double from Callum Wilson, alongside an own goal from Theo Walcott, secured all three points for the Magpies after they went into the break at 1-0 down due to Stuart Armstrong's first-half strike.
Eddie Howe was forced to change his XI for the match as reliable central midfielder Sean Longstaff was ruled out, which allowed Anthony Gordon to come into the team out wide, with Joelinton playing in midfield alongside Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes.
Speaking to the Shields Gazette after the match, the head coach said:
“Sean picked up a knock on his foot. There’s no break or fracture, we think. So we just hope it’s bad bruising. He wasn’t able to perform for us today. But hopefully he’ll be back very soon.”
These comments suggest that the academy product could be back in action by the time Newcastle face Arsenal in the Premier League next weekend and that would allow Howe to instantly ditch Gordon after his lacklustre display against Southampton.
The forward, who joined the club from Everton for an initial £40m in January, has struggled to break into the starting XI since arriving at St. James' Park and did little to help his cause on Sunday.
How did Anthony Gordon perform against Southampton?
Gordon recorded a Sofascore rating of 6.4 in his 45 minutes on the pitch as the maestro failed to create a single opportunity for his teammates, whilst missing one 'big chance' and losing five of his eight individual duels, as he continues in search of his first direct goal involvement for the side.
The £60k-per-week forward has created six chances and failed to provide a single goal or assist in 11 Premier League appearances for the Toon so far and, despite getting into promising areas at times, there is little sign of any quality end product appearing on a regular basis in the near future.
It hasn't been a pretty time for Gordon of late with journalist Ryan Taylor even remarking at how the attacker had "embarrassed himself" after failing to perform in the defeat to Aston Villa with his angry reaction to being substituted in the previous match against Brentford causing controversy.
Therefore, with the Magpies chasing points to secure their place in the Champions League for next season, Howe must ruthlessly ditch Gordon from the starting XI for the club's next game with Longstaff looking likely to be fit again.
If the English central midfielder is available for selection, the head coach should start the academy graduate in midfield and move Joelinton back out to the wing, or - if Longstaff is unavailable - bring Callum Wilson in and move Alexander Isak out wide, where he has created goals for Jacob Murphy and Wilson in recent matches.