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Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has denied a Football Association charge of violent conduct after he was accused of stamping on Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea. Skrtel appeared to commit the offence in stoppage time at the end of Sunday's Premier League match, which United won 2-1. The Slovakia international chased a through-ball as 10-man Liverpool searched for a late equaliser but De Gea slid in to get there first and the defender continued his run and stood on the goalkeeper's right shin. Neither referee Martin Atkinson nor his assistants spotted the incident at the time, allowing the FA to take retrospective action based on television footage. A three-man panel of former elite officials was asked by the FA to review the footage independently of each other and there was unanimous agreement the offence warranted a red card. Skrtel was given until 6 p.m. GMT on Tuesday to respond to the charge and has decided to contest it, sources have confirmed to ESPN FC. Press Association Sport reports that the 30-year-old will argue the incident was accidental and not intentional. If he is found guilty, Skrtel would face a three-match ban, ruling him out of the Premier League matches against Arsenal and Newcastle and the FA Cup quarterfinal replay at Blackburn. Information from the Press Association was used in this report
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