Newcastle United’s fresh injury worry plus Anthony Gordon red card appeal latest - five things

Eddie Howe’s side now have just one shot at ending that long run for a domestic cup this season. If their task against Liverpool wasn’t hard enough, then losing Anthony Gordon for the final has made their job much more difficult.

Alexander Isak, who was back in the starting XI on Sunday, put his side ahead from the spot before Yankuba Minteh netted against his former employers on the stroke of half-time. Danny Welbeck’s late winner in extra-time after both teams were reduced to ten men secured the win for Fabian Hurzeler’s side on a chaotic afternoon on Tyneside. Here, we take a look at five things of note from Newcastle United’s FA Cup defeat against Brighton at St James’ Park:

Lewis Hall blow - the injury they did not need

Another game and another shock starting XI omission. This time, it was Lewis Hall who would miss out entirely with an ankle injury.

“Yeah, an ankle problem after the Liverpool game.” Howe said of Hall post-match. “He didn't really recover well, he felt a pain, so he's been to see a specialist, he had a scan, now he's been to see a specialist and we're awaiting further news.”

Having developed into one of the Premier League’s very best left-backs and coming off a brilliant couple of outings against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, not having Hall on Sunday was a huge blow and having him sidelined for their upcoming matches is unthinkable. The club will be sweating profusely as they await those scan results and whilst their Carabao Cup final preparations have already been delivered a blow, more on that later, losing Hall as well would be catastrophic.

Howe makes shock goalkeeper decision - Dubravka’s position to lose

Amongst the six changes he made to his starting lineup, Howe decided to reinstate Martin Dubravka to the XI in place of Nick Pope. The Slovakian, who signed a contract extension with the club less than a fortnight ago, had to watch on from the bench against Forest and Liverpool as the Magpies conceded five.

Coming back into the team on Sunday, the Slovakian made a couple of crucial stops and could do very little about Minteh’s equaliser due to a wicked deflection. With just one game between now and the Carabao Cup final, it looks as though it will be Dubravka’s spot to lose heading to Wembley.

Gordon suspension - what it means for Wembley

As the howls of incredulity spread around St James’ Park in the immediate seconds following Gordon’s dismissal, murmurings of realisation that he would be banned from Wembley began to do the rounds. ‘Is he out of the final?’ fans nearest the press box would ask. ‘Yes’ was the sombre reply.

Clinging onto the faintest of faint hopes that the club will be successful if they are able to appeal the ban look unlikely, although Howe did confirm that would be an avenue they could explore. “Yeah, of course, I think if we analyse the incident and feel there's ground for that, we will do without hesitation.

“If Anthony is missing the game then of course that would be a big blow to us. But as always the cliché, when someone else suffers a misfortune in that way it's someone else's opportunity and I think that's what we have a squad for, that's what we have very good players for.

“So I think we have to look at it that way and I'm sure Anthony would want us to look at it that way. He would want us to, in his absence, carry on and be really strong and try and win the game.”

As it stands, Gordon will miss the trip to the London Stadium in a week’s time, the Carabao Cup final and their next Premier League match on Wednesday 2 April against Brentford. He is set to make his return to action on Monday 7 April when the Magpies face Leicester City.

Tino Livramento injury - Welbeck took advantage

As Welbeck and a jubilant Brighton bench celebrated his late winner, Newcastle looked dejected as their 114 minute effort was in vain. A flowing move from the Seagulls, spearheaded by two of their substitutes, saw them steal the win and take advantage of the smallest of lapses in concentration from Tino Livramento.

Livramento was caught a few yards behind Matt Targett in a position that played the former Arsenal and Manchester United forward onside. Livramento wasn’t the only player to have played almost two hours at that point, however, he had spent a great deal of time before that moment feeling the effects of cramp.

That slight issue may have forced him to subconsciously drop that little bit deeper - a decision that may have cost his side. After such a tight game, the match winning moment was always going to come down to a piece of genius or a mistake. Unfortunately for the Magpies and Livramento, that moment did not go in their favour.

FA Cup dreams dashed - what is success this season?

Whilst seeing Newcastle United complete a domestic cup double this season was always the fanciest of fancy dreams, exiting the competition now sharpens focus on what they have left to play for this campaign. Of course, that could all be irrelevant in a fortnight’s time if they lift the Carabao Cup final.

After that, though, they will still have ten league games to play to force themselves into next season’s Champions League. With Liverpool and Arsenal seemingly guaranteed a top-five finish, Newcastle are among a group of eight teams that will all fancy their chances of being a Champions League team next season.

They are positioned well in the pack, but that could all change by the time they kick-off against the Hammers, with a real possibility they begin that match 9th in the table. Being out of the FA Cup means there are no more distractions and no more excuses. Champions League football is a must next season.

Your next Newcastle United read: Will Anthony Gordon miss the Carabao Cup final?