‘I’d have had steam coming out my ears’ – Clark on Murphy wave

Ex-Newcastle skipper Lee Clark said Jacob Murphy’s dismissive wave as Southampton’s Duje Caleta-Car was sent off in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg would have infuriated him, but he loved it all the same.

Asked on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, Clark laughed and said: “If I had just been sent off, my head would already have gone so I’d have volleyed him up the backside!

“I would have had steam coming out of my ears.”

He also had special praise for goalkeeper Nick Pope who kept his 10th successive clean sheet.

“It’s mad, isn’t it,” he said. “We’ve got some really good defenders so it’s not all down to him but he has been a brilliant signing and an absolute snip at £10m.

“He’s been superb from the minute he walked through the door with his presence, his shot-stopping and his taking of crosses.

“Some people questioned his distribution before he signed, but that has been excellent as well.”