Barkley caps disappointing day after failing to create and going off injured

Is it embarrassing pictures of him in a Tottenham shirt as a toddler? Clandestine audio of him admitting Steven Gerrard was a far better midfielder for England than him?

The conspiracy theories, about why Frank Lampard handed a start to Ross Barkley against Newcastle, were rife before kick off. He must have something juicy on his boss.

In reality, Lampard had few other options. There was no N’Golo Kante, and Mateo Kovacic’s fitness was only so-so. As a result, Barkley had to step up.

Yet this was a poor audition and disappointing day all round for the 25-year-old midfielder.

After scoring twice in England’s 6-0 annihilation of Bulgaria, he forced his way back into Lampard’s team then was forced off with what appeared a minor injury.

He attempted 21 passes, managed an accuracy of 81 per cent, zero shots, zero chances created. Defence-wise, he committed a total of three tackles and one interception.

Starring alongside Jorginho in a 4-3-3 set-up is an important job. With Mason Mount pushing so far forward, you have to help in providing protection.

If you fail to do so, opponents can do damage on the counter-attack. Here, Newcastle got men behind the ball, then flew forward using Allan Saint-Maximin.

Barkley had to get that balance right, and he roamed forward plenty. Perhaps too much, as Jorginho appeared isolated and Chelsea stretched at times.

Lampard is a fan of Barkley’s attack-mindedness, however. As he said this week: ‘I am loving his arrival into the box. He knows that it is competitive here for a place in midfield.

’One thing I have found from working with Ross is that he really wants to learn and improve.’

There remains room for improvement with Barkley.

He was one of five English players named in a Chelsea XI for a Premier League match for the first time since February 2013 – in a 3-2 loss to Newcastle.

One of the others, Mount, is already ahead of him in the pecking order. Barkley has a job on his hands if he is to work his way into Lampard’s XI regularly.