Newcastle 1-1 Leicester (2-4 on pens): Steve Bruce incensed with ‘horror’ challenge by Hamza Choudhury on Matt Ritchie
Steve Bruce was left angered by a 'horror challenge' from Hamza Choudury as Newcastle were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Leicester.
Matt Ritchie was unable to continue after half-time following a strong tackle by the England Under-21 international, which was deemed worthy of a yellow card by referee Tim Robinson.
Newcastle were subsequently beaten on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time, with Yoshinori Muto cancelling out James Madisson's free-kick before Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel saved two spot-kicks.
Bruce said: "I have to say the mess Matt Ritchie is in, the referee is five yards away and if there had been VAR tonight or whatever...
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"It's a horror challenge and I don't want people sent off and red cards, but when I see the state of Matty's leg... We fear ankle damage, he's got three cuts which all need stitches.
"He's a mess and the referee is five yards away from him, which is difficult to take when I see him like that.
"As I say, I don't want anybody ever sent off, but when it's a horror challenge like that... It wasn't good. No wonder he didn't come out for the second half."
However, Foxes assistant manager Chris Davies was quick to defend Choudhury as he stood in for Brendan Rodgers at the post-match press conference.
He said: "It was a strong tackle. He's a competitor - if the ball is there to be won, he'll go for it. There was certainly no malice whatsoever from Hamza.
"As I say, anyone who sees Hamza play knows he's competitive and if the ball is there to be won, he'll try to win it, so that's how I saw it."