McClaren laments ´harsh´ Mitrovic red

Steve McClaren was left to lament Aleksandar Mitrovic’s “harsh” early red card in Newcastle United’s 1-0 Premier League defeat against Arsenal.

The Serb was sent off by referee Andre Marriner after just 16 minutes following a foul on Francis Coquelin, with Fabricio Coloccini’s own goal settling the match early in the second half.

Speaking about Mitrovic’s dismissal, McClaren said: “I’ve seen it over and over, it’s come over his head, there’s no intent, he’s looking at the ball.

“He kind of stamped on his foot. I’m very surprised after going down and rolling about the player actually carried on. 

“It’s very harsh.”

Speaking to BT Sport, McClaren added: “All we could do after [the red card] was show spirit, fight and discipline and they were magnificent.

“If we keep this spirit, after four games we’ve been down to 10 men in two. We need to learn from that.

“I couldn’t fault them. We want to be a team that’s hard to beat.”

Asked whether Mitrovic, booked in his opening two matches, was developing a reputation, McClaren added: “He’s only played a couple of games. Maybe referees are too busy watching Match of the Day instead of assessing their own game.”

The result leaves Newcastle with just two points from four matches.