Harvey Barnes feared his season was over amid four-month lay-off due to a foot injury – as Newcastle’s £38m summer signing opens up on ‘mentally tough’ period

Harvey Barnes feared his debut season for Newcastle United could be over during a foot layoff that extended to four months. 

The winger, signed for £38million from Leicester in the summer, suffered the injury in just his sixth Premier League appearance for his new club in September.

An initial return date of early December came and went after a setback and Barnes finally made his comeback during Saturday’s 4-4 draw with Luton, coming from the bench to claim his side a point.

However, the 26-year-old admits he thought he may have played his last game until next season when his return was delayed.

‘Yeah, I definitely thought that (season could be over),’ he said. ‘It’s difficult when you speak to different specialists and you get different opinions from the professionals. That’s tough. We made the decision to give it a go without the operation. It’s been the right decision, because it’s all good now.

Barnes was injured in September during a Premier League fixture against Sheffield United

‘But it’s been a tough period for me, the toughest I’ve had in football. 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.’

How was it in the treatment room?

‘It’s been busy!’ said Barnes. ‘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.

Barnes admitted his four-month injury lay-off was the ‘toughest’ period he has ever had in football

Barnes believes Newcastle are capable of great things this season despite their drop in form

‘This season it seems we get one back and another one is out. We just need to keep as many to stay fit as possible.’

Can the team recover to reclaim their place in the top four?

‘‘This team is capable of great things, as we showed last year,’ he said. ‘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.’