Newcastle defender Dan Burn was rushed to hospital following a brutal collision during the first half of their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. A strong tackle from Nordi Mukiele left Burn unable to continue at the Stadium of Light, casting doubt over his availability for the Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Fulham.

The Magpies are now severely depleted at the back, with Sven Botman and Kieran Trippier already sidelined. Eddie Howe provided an update: “He was struggling to breathe at half-time. It was a big problem. Dan Burn has gone to the hospital for a check of his ribs, so hopefully he will be OK.”

Reflecting on the Wearside loss, a visibly dejected Howe admitted in his press conference: “We know how much this means and all the focus on today was huge.”

“We tried to deliver our best performance and we haven’t done that. We feel disappointed in ourselves and that we left something on the pitch and that’s a horrible feeling.”

The Newcastle boss offered no justification for the defeat, which was settled by Nick Woltemade’s unfortunate own goal. Howe acknowledged: “It was not our finest game.

“The effort was there but the quality was not. It was a game of really few chances decided by a freak goal and we could not create the opening we wanted.

“The goal came at a really bad time and was bad in its construction – Nick has not meant to do it but it has decided the game. I thought we had defended pretty well.”

Newcastle struggled to get the better of their fierce rivals, and perhaps will be bemoaning the loss of Burn, who would likely have been in position to head away a cross that striker Woltemade diverted into his own net.

But several disappointing performances saw their miserable record against Sunderland continue, having not won a Premier League match between the two sides since 2011.