Anthony Gordon exclusive: Newcastle forward speaks about 'mindset shift' with Rio Ferdinand

Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon, speaking to TNT Sports' Rio Ferdinand on Between The Lines, has spoken about a "mindset shift" since his move to the club from Everton.

Gordon has hit the ground running at St James’ Park this season with six goals and seven assists in 19 Premier League appearances, and one of those six goals came in a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in December.

The 22-year-old showed brilliant tenacity to make a run to the far post after Bruno Guimaraes picked out Kieran Trippier, who then delivered a ball in from the right-hand side which Gordon slotted home.

Speaking ahead of Newcastle's Premier League match against Manchester City on Saturday – a game live on TNT Sports – Gordon recounted the goal in more detail.

“For me, the biggest thing about this goal and the biggest change from me in the past year is I would want the ball from Bruno, do a little bit and try and look good and ultimately wouldn't result in a goal or assist,” Gordon told Ferdinand.

"Whereas now, I'm not even thinking about him [Guimaraes] passing me the ball. I'm thinking, ‘get it to Tripps, let me get back post and score.’

“So, it’s a mindset shift.”

Ferdinand also showed the England forward a clip from his time at Everton, where Gordon did not show the same nous to get into a more advanced position to influence play.

“That's actually annoying to watch now,” he admits.

“When I was at Everton, I had Frank Lampard [as manager], who was an unbelievable goalscorer.

“He gave me all the right information to get in them positions and was saying: ‘this is where your goal is going to come from,’ but I probably wasn’t mature enough at that time to take on the advice and go and do it.”

The former Everton winger also admits that it took some time to adapt to Eddie Howe’s demands since making a move to Tyneside almost a year ago, but is now thriving under the former Bournemouth manager.

“The standards here from day one from the manager were what really surprised me and from there and from when I first joined, it took me a while to adapt to those standards,” he explained.

“But through being around the players and everything that was going on, I've just got better and better.”

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