JOHN CARVER has sensationally accused Newcastle United defender Mike Williamson of deliberately getting himself sent off during this afternoon’s 3-0 defeat at Leicester City.

Having already been booked in the first half, Williamson was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card for launching himself into Jamie Vardy as the Leicester striker headed towards the touchline in the 62nd minute.

It was completely needless tackle, with Vardy going nowhere, but it means Williamson will miss the next two games as he has already been sent off this season, and Carver has accused him of deliberately seeking to leave the game early.

The Newcastle head coach said: “I thought he meant it. When I was standing in the technical area and the ball went on to that left-hand side, after already having a caution, my first reaction five yards before he made the tackle was, ‘Don’t do it’.

“But he did it. The guy, Vardy, was off the pitch, and I think Willo and the ball were off the pitch too. There was no need to do it, and I’m not accepting that.

“I’m not accepting that, especially with the situation we’re in. At half-time, it was very animated, probably the most animated I’ve been in my football career because I wasn’t accepting what went on in the first half.”

A clearly emotional Carver repeated his attack in both his television interviews and his press conference with the written press, and it remains to be seen how he handles the fall-out from his comments.

With Daryl Janmaat also seeing red, Newcastle’s defensive resources will be severely depleted when they entertain West Brom next Saturday in a game that has assumed huge importance with the Magpies tumbling towards the relegation zone.

The final whistle of today’s game brought an angry response from the visiting supporters, who booed and jeered the Newcastle players as they wandered over to them following the final whistle.

Carver sympathised with the fans’ reaction, and admitted he too was furious at his players’ lack of passion and commitment during their eighth defeat on the bounce.

He said: “Our record at defending set plays is not great, but I can’t give players desire to go and get a broken nose or a cut on their eye by trying to head the ball. I can’t give anybody that.

“I wish I could be on there because I would do that, but I can’t. We can get in the right areas, but if you’re not prepared to get on the end of it and do the right things then we’ve got a problem. That’s why I was animated at half-time, because we’re a soft touch.”