05 February 2024 , 17:00
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Harvey Barnes feared his season was over after suffering a rare foot injury - but has vowed to fire Newcastle into Euro contention again.
The winger scored for Newcastle against Luton on Saturday, his first appearance since pulling up lame against Sheffield United in September. Barnes opted not to have an operation after conflicting advice from specialists, and says it was the “right decision” after returning to action.
With Anthony Gordon out for a spell after twisting his ankle and leaving St James’ Park on crutches, summer signing Barnes is set for a big role in the coming weeks. He said: “It’s been a tough period for me, the toughest I’ve had in football. I’m delighted to be back.
“‘When you’re a new signing, you just want to hit the ground running. Six games in, you’re injured. That’s hard. Then, it goes on longer than you think and there’s a couple of setbacks.
“Mentally, it’s so tough. I’ve had one injury in football other than this. I’ve always been fit. So now I’m back doing what I love. I just want to help the team.
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“Yeah, definitely, I feared for my season. It’s difficult when you speak to different specialists and you get different opinions from the professionals. That’s tough.
“You’re not always going to get the answer you want to hear. Then it’s down to the players and staff here to make our own decisions.
“We made the decision to give it a go without the operation and it’s paid off. It’s been the right decision, because it’s all good now. Now I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Barnes is hoping to fire Newcastle back up the Premier League tableNewcastle have had rotten luck with injuries this season amid a fixture pile up and Sandro Tonali’s ban, leaving boss Eddie Howe frustrated and seeking answers. But Barnes said: “The treatment room’s been busy! You try to keep each other up but it’s not easy at times. We had 10 players at one point and everyone is going through the same thing.
“Of course there’s bad luck. Like mine, it was such a rare injury. For some of them, there’s just no answer. It’s bad luck, what can you do? They all came at the same time, too, which was so unlucky.”
Barnes struck from outside the box to level the game at 4-4, but United couldn’t get the winner leaving them playing catch up on the top six.
The ex-Leicester man said: “It’s a great feeling. It would have been better if the goal was to put us ahead, but you want to make an impact coming off the bench. You don't celebrate the equaliser too much unless it's a last minute one! Obviously, you enjoy it as a player but not as much if it is not a winning goal.
“There’s no reason why a good run can’t take us up the table. This team is capable of great things as we showed last year. We have shown it in spells this year too. When we are on top of our game we can go on a great run and climb the table quickly.”