Jonny Evans: 'I did not spit at Papiss Cisse'

Jonny Evans is claiming innocence over allegations he spat at Papiss Cisse during the first half of Manchester United's 1-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday.

Footage showed Evans did indeed spit at Cisse before the Senegalese forward appeared to react with some spit of his own.

However, United released an official statement regarding the incident on Thursday in which Evans insisted he was unaware of any spitting incident and claimed he assumed Cisse's retaliation was related to the tackle that sparked the confrontation.

Evans said:

Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night's match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse.

I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting.

It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something I did last night.

Newcastle, on the other hand, published an official statement in which Cisse apologized for the incident rather than deny any allegations of spitting.

I have apologies to make to a lot of people today. Firstly to my teammates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny.

I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down.

I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.