Newcastle United's troubling habit of conceding late goals has become a recurring theme this season, and after their latest heartbreak—an 88th-minute equalizer against Nottingham Forest—the squad is searching for answers. The goal, scored by former Magpie Elliot Anderson, marked the 20th time Newcastle has allowed a goal after the 75th minute in the Premier League this campaign. It's a statistic that has left fans and players alike frustrated.

Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle, winger Harvey Barnes didn't shy away from addressing the issue. "It is disappointing," he admitted. "There was a little bit of back and forth, and then we obviously got the goal and went ahead. We looked comfortable for a bit and we looked like we might get another one. We had a few chances—and then it has just been the story of the season."

Barnes pointed to a pattern of nervousness that seems to grip the team in the final stages of matches. "In the last 10 minutes or so, we seem to get a bit nervous. We seem to lose that confidence to go and get another goal, and ultimately we just try to defend the lead, which we haven't done well enough as a whole this year." He also acknowledged that fatigue might play a role, adding, "When it happens once or twice, maybe the confidence drops and you automatically do it as a team. It's not an instruction. It's just something that seems to creep into our game a bit. It's something we have to stop doing."

Former Newcastle defender John Anderson offered a deeper perspective, suggesting the problem may be psychological. "It can be a mentality thing," he explained. "When it happens so many times, it becomes psychological as well. You don't realize that you're dropping as deep as you're dropping, and giving as much space as you're giving, because you're trying to protect what you've got, especially when there is only one goal in it. It isn't a deliberate ploy. It is just trying to hang on to what you've got."

For a team with ambitions of climbing the table, addressing this late-game fragility will be crucial. Whether it's nerves, fatigue, or a mental block, Newcastle must find a way to close out matches—or risk seeing their hard work undone in the dying minutes.