Newcastle forward Gordon to miss cup final after club decide not to appeal red card

Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon will definitely miss the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley on 16 March after the club decided not to appeal against his sending off last week.

Gordon was shown a straight red card for pushing Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke and will now start a three-game ban.

Manager Eddie Howe says there was no chance of overturning the decision.

He said: “It’s always a discussion point and we discussed it with a club with the respective people we needed to discuss it with – lawyers etc – and we felt there wasn’t sufficient grounds to appeal.

“There was no intention from Anthony. He didn’t mean to hurt anybody.

“But, you have to look at it and ask if there is any chance of being successful and if there is no chance then what is the point of appealing – Anthony understands that.”

Eddie Howe on remaining ‘United’:

“We still have everything to play for, all those players coming into the team will feel like they can make the difference. You have to be ready to perform, to play. We have been working hard with the players behind the scenes so that everyone… pic.twitter.com/SmIfeEZ9wo

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) March 7, 2025

Gordon will miss Monday’s trip to West Ham, while left-back Lewis Hall is out for the season.

“Lewiswas in really good form and playing well so it’s a big blow for him and us,” Howe said.

“The most important thing now is his recovery and making sure he comes back as good as he has been.”

Botman out for two months

Newcastle will also still be without defender Sven Botman for the trip to London with Howe revealing that the Dutchman is out for another two months.

Botman has only made five appearances all season.

Howe said: “With Sven we have been trying to get him close to full fitness and he was actually very close for the Brighton game, but the day before he felt the same problem in his knee.

“That meant a reset and we still hoped he could come back but this week again he felt the same discomfort so now it looks like he will have to have an operation.

“We hope he will be back in around eight weeks.”