James Perch has stood by his Newcastle United teammate Cheick Tiote, who was sent off during yesterday's Tyne-Wear derby.

The Ivorian was handed his marching orders with 24 minutes on the clock for a late challenge on Sunderland frontman Steven Fletcher.

Despite accepting that Tiote's actions were rash, Perch believes that he wouldn't be the same player without his competitive streak.

"I saw it live obviously, and if I'm right you can't go round doing that," Perch told BBC Newcastle. "It was a red card I think, from my first view. I'd have to look at it again but it was just a bad tackle.

"You take that side of the game out of Cheick and you don't get the same player.

"He's sorry that it happened and if we'd had 11 men, who knows, we could have kicked on and won 2-0 or 3-0."

Tiote has been given 27 yellow cards in his 54 Premier League appearances.

Written by
Liam Apicella