'The gaffer deserves all the credit' - Gordon on Howe

Anthony Gordon says Eddie Howe's altered game plan "worked to perfection" and "the gaffer deserves all of the credit" after reaching the Carabao Cup final.

Newcastle's performance against Arsenal was aggressive, with Fabian Schar leading a front-footed back three alongside Sven Botman and Dan Burn.

"We felt good coming into the game because of the result in the first-leg, but we knew that the first goal was going to be massive," Gordon told BBC Radio Newcastle. "If they had scored first, then the game would have become more intense, I imagine.

"Everyone knows that we don't change too much and that we like to press, but the gaffer altered it slightly and it worked to perfection. They struggled with us on the counter-attack because they couldn't really pick me or Murph [Jacob Murphy] up.

"Alex [Isak} just does what he does and is always a threat. The gaffer deserves all of the credit."

On what the scenes at the final whistle meant to him as Newcastle sealed a return to Wembley, Gordon said: "I have been here for some big moments, like in the Champions League, but that at full-time was probably my best moment here so far.

"It was also probably the biggest game of my career and now it will be my first game at Wembley at club level, so it is really exciting.

"I live for the big moments in the big games because it does bring the best out of me."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds