Evans denies spitting at Newcastle's Cisse

Evans and Cisse clashed during the first half of the 1-0 win for Louis van Gaal's side at St James' Park.

Replays seemed to show Evans spitting at Cisse as he lay on the turf, with the Senegal international reacting angrily and also appearing to spit back at the Northern Ireland man.

A statement from Evans read: "Having woken up this morning [Thursday] I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night's match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse.

"I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor.

"During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting.

"It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night."