John Carver blasts "abysmal" Newcastle United after Wear-Tyne derby defeat

Newcastle United manager John Carver has laid into his players after they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat away at Sunderland in Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby.

The game was decided by Jermain Defoe's vicious volley on the stroke of half time as the Black Cats made it five wins in a row against their bitter rivals.

Carver told BBC Sport: "We were abysmal in the first half. We were poor. I always say a side of mine will give 100% but were second best in every department. It wasn't good enough.

"Every day on the training ground I am the most positive man you will ever meet, I don't put shackles on anyone, I want them to be exciting, but for whatever reason we were so negative out there.

"The back four is a makeshift back four and they deserve a bit of credit but the other units of the team weren't good enough."

Newcastle remain 13th in the Premier League table following their derby defeat, while Sunderland climb to 15th.