Relieved Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was delighted to see Harvey Barnes return to action with a bang as he came off the bench to snatch a thrilling 4-4 draw with Luton for the Magpies.

Barnes, who had been out of action since September 24 with a toe injury, was introduced as a 63rd-minute substitute with his side trailing 4-2 to the promoted Hatters having led 1-0 and 2-1, and it was his strike 10 minutes later which ensured the spoils were shared.

Asked about his £38million summer signing, head coach Howe said: "That's what Harvey does, that's why we brought him to the football club.

"He is a goalscorer. His record last year at Leicester was incredible and we hoped, of course, that he would come here and bring goals to us.

"Unfortunately, he's missed such a big part of the season and it's huge to get him back I thought it was an incredible finish off his wrong foot, a really, really good goal and I think he had another chance late on as well, so I was really pleased with his impact."

In a chaotic encounter, Sean Longstaff twice fired the Magpies ahead only for Gabriel Osho and then Ross Barkley, who turned in a fine individual display, to level before the break.

Carlton Morris' twice-taken penalty saw the visitors go ahead for the first time and when Elijah Adebayo made it 4-2 in the 62nd minute, they looked to be on the way to another impressive win after their 4-0 midweek success over Brighton.

However, Kieran Trippier's volley dragged Newcastle back to within a single goal before Barnes struck to set up a grandstand finish during which Jacob Murphy and Chiedozie Ogbene might have won it for their respective sides.

Howe, who lost Anthony Gordon to an ankle injury, said: "With the way we started, I thought this could be a really memorable game for us. But credit to Luton, they responded really well and made it difficult for us.

"It was a really open game, with two teams going right at each other. It was probably a great game for the neutral, but not so much if you're associated to us because there was a huge determination to win, and we're disappointed not to."