Woeful 4/10 and three 7.5s - Newcastle player ratings from Nottingham Forest

More frustration for Newcastle United as we threw away another lead late on in a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest. 

Harvey Barnes' second-half strike gave us a lead on 74 minutes, but Elliot Anderson came back to haunt us just three minutes from time to make it more points dropped (27) from winning positions for Eddie Howe's Mags.

Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved in yesterday's draw.

Starting 11

Pope (6) - Far from convincing at times, flapping at one first-half cross, but did make some important saves to ensure we took something from the game. Looks like he has two more games as the first-choice keeper.

Hall (5.5) - Shoehorned in at right back and did his best in an unfamiliar position. Defensively all at sea for the equaliser and in the wars throughout the game. This experiment should be short-lived, and he needs to go back to his natural position at left back.

Thiaw (6) - Outshone by his defensive partner today, but was still solid enough. Looks like he’s running out of steam after featuring in a lot of games this season.

Botman (7.5) - Best performance in a long time from the big Dutchman. Cleared everything that was thrown at him and made two or three vital blocks, handling the physical presence of Awoniyi, Wood and Lucca really well. 

Burn (6) - Standard performance from Big Dan at left back. Defensively solid, although he did have a lot of help from Tonali and Joelinton to contain the skilful Bakwa. Has his limitations, especially in the attacking third, but can be relied upon to be steady.

Tonali (7) - Full of energy as we have come to expect, and was given a deeper role in possession in the second half as he slotted in between the centre-backs. Seemed to work well as it allowed Bruno to push further up the field. A few shots flashed over.

Guimaraes (7.5) - Dictated the whole game at times and proved just how classy he is, despite him still working towards 100% match fitness. Will be disappointed not to find himself on the scoresheet, as he wasted a few good opportunities. Gave the ball away a fair bit, but was often looking for incisive forward passes, which we’ve been crying out for.

Murphy (4) - A Couple of decent early crosses followed by total anonymity and far too many wayward passes. Hasn’t come close to hitting the heights of last season and must be considered as nothing more than a squad player next season. Great guy and great servant, but this is where we need to see the ruthless side to Eddie Howe.

Woltemade (5) - Real mixed bag. Failed to complete simple passes or hold up possession, but also should’ve had an assist in the first half. Showed great endeavour to track back after a Bruno mistake gave away possession on the half way line. Looks completely bereft of confidence.

Joelinton (6.5) - Made a couple of decent forays into the opposition penalty area but lacked the end product, unfortunately. Off the ball, he continues to produce his best work with his physicality standing out.

Osula (5.5) - Was denied by Sels in the first half with a chance he should've buried, then rattled the crossbar in the second half from a free kick. Other than that, it was a lot of running without much substance, unfortunately. Effort can’t be faulted. 

Substitutes 

Barnes (7) - Took his goal superbly, holding off Morato before firing past Sels. Will be hoping to start our final two games, with Gordon seemingly 

Ramsey (7.5) - Pinpoint through ball for Barnes to open the scoring was superb. Very impressive cameo from a player who can feel aggrieved not to have started at the City Ground.

Wissa (4.5) - Needs this season to end as it just hasn’t happened for him. Hopefully, after a full pre-season, we can see something resembling a £50 million player.

Trippier (NR)