'His knee' - Newcastle United Anthony Gordon fitness concern confirmed ahead of Brighton and Chelsea

The 24-year-old forward started Newcastle’s 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park at the start of March but was shown a straight red card and handed a three-match ban.

An injury picked up on international duty with England delayed Gordon’s return to action further. By the time he returned to action off the bench in the 4-1 win against Manchester United, it had been six weeks since his last appearance for the club.

Harvey Barnes has stepped into the side in Gordon’s absence and has helped The Magpies win the Carabao Cup and climb up to third in the Premier League table, with four goals and four assists in his last eight matches.

Gordon came off the bench once again in Newcastle’s 3-0 win over Ipswich Town at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

Following the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was asked about Gordon’s role in the side since returning from injury and suspension.

Anthony Gordon not ‘100% fit’ following injury

Howe revealed that Gordon is still feeling the impact of his injury and had a minor issue with his knee in the build-up to the Ipswich match.

“Yeah, I think Harvey's been outstanding since he got his opportunity in the team,” Howe said about Newcastle’s left wing position. “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.”

Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Brighton on Sunday (2pm kick-off). The Magpies have never won at the Amex in the Premier League with their last victory coming in the Championship back in 2017 - a game made memorable for Mohamed Diame’s freak goal before Ayoze Perez’s last-minute winner.

A win for Newcastle at Brighton would strengthen their grip on the Champions League places as part of a tricky run of fixtures to end the season with Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton to follow.

Newcastle United injury doubts

While Gordon is likely to make himself available despite not being 100% fit, Newcastle are sweating on the fitness of midfielder Joelinton heading into the final run of matches.

The Brazilian pulled up in training with a flare up of his knee injury that sidelined him for around a month between February and March. He will see a specialist and receive a scan as Newcastle hope the issue won’t bring a premature end to his season with some crucial games coming up.

Newcastle sit just two points inside the Champions League places with four games left to play. Their next home match against Chelsea - who sit two points behind them in fifth - could prove crucial.

Chelsea then face Nottingham Forest, who currently sit sixth with a game in hand, on the final day of the season.

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