Jason Tindall appears to be in no mood to change a winning Newcastle United side as he plots how to keep a stellar run of form going on Tyneside. As such, Anthony Gordon, usually an ever-present in this Magpies team, now faces a real battle to win his spot back given the impressive displays of left-sided counterpart Harvey Barnes.
"When you are in good form and when you are winning games it then does become difficult to change your team, unless you feel players are not performing within that winning team," Tindall said during his pre-Aston Villa press conference on Friday morning.
"I don't think anyone can say that because the players are collectively and individually delivering excellent performances. So in some senses the team does pick itself."
Soon after, he added: "Anthony's played the game long enough to understand the team's playing extremely well and Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy, two players that are in his position, are playing and performing extremely well.
"At times like this as a player, as frustrating as it can be sometimes, you do need to put the shoe on the other foot and go 'right, OK, if I was that player performing that way, what would I expect?' You would always say that you would expect to be a good teammate, to support that person, to continue to work hard every single day so when your moment does come you're able to go out there and deliver the performances that everybody knows you can."
Gordon is now experiencing what Barnes has had contend with for the majority of his Newcastle career; a frustrating stint on the sidelines. The United No10 has failed to start a single game since his pre-Carabao Cup final red card vs Brighton, while Barnes has netted four goals and grabbed two assists in his last five Premier League matches.
The former Leicester City man knew he had to prove his starting capabilities in Gordon's absence and has responded expertly, looking cock-sure in front of goal in recent matches against his old club, Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
"I think it's testament to all these players that weren't starting games and weren't in the team for a long period of time," Tindall added of Barnes' recent performances. "When they come in, they deliver performances but you can only do that if you've got the right attitude and your work - day in and day out - is consistent.
"Mentally you're strong, you sort of deal with the frustrations in the right way - and certainly Harvey Barnes has done that since he's come to the team. Anthony Gordon with the quality he's got was a big miss but Harvey's come into the team and delivered excellent performances."
As Tindall says, the rest of the Newcastle team picks itself at present. Sven Botman is admittedly closing in on a return, ahead of schedule, but he too looks like he will be facing a spell on the bench due to the consistency of both Fabian Schar and Dan Burn.
