Newcastle manager John Carver complained that his side did not receiving a penalty in Monday's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool, though he conceded that Moussa Sissoko deserved to be sent off for his late tackle.
The defeat was Newcastle's fifth in succession and left them with work still to do to ensure they do not get pulled into the relegation battle.
Their misery was compounded when Sissoko was sent off for what was deemed a second yellow card offence, when he caught Lucas Leiva on the ankle.
Manager John Carver admitted Sissoko could easily have been shown a straight red, however.
He said: "The sending off, it could have been a straight red, I will be honest. I have said that to Moussa, I am quite straight and I won't defend anyone if it is indefensible."
Asked if Sissoko could be fined, Carver said: "I am sure there will be some kind of disciplinary procedure. I said before the game we needed to keep 11 players."
While Carver did not complain about that decision, he was angry that Ayoze Perez did not earn a penalty after apparently being felled by Dejan Lovren.
He said: "The game hinged on a huge decision. I don't want to be seen to be a moaner but it is fact we don't get big decisions for whatever reasons, it could be me. I have spoken to the referee, but it doesn't help me."
Even Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and midfielder Joe Allen admitted a foul probably should have been called.
"Yeah. I thought on another day we could have had that given against us," Rodgers said.
Added Allen: "I did get a good view of it as I'd missed the ball in the build-up. It look a good shot for a penalty, but I didn't get one the other night. These things happen."
Carver did see reason for some optimism, feeling that his side's performance was much improved from their derby loss to Sunderland last time out.
He said: "I thought the first nine minutes we were very tentative, nervous after our performance against Sunderland. It was a bad goal to concede.
"After that we grew into the game. It is easy to crumble at Anfield but we didn't. One or two guys rolled their sleeves up.
"I think we got a response. We didn't get a result but I saw enough.
"There are lot of positives to take from the game. A lot of people expected us to get a hiding and I think we held our own for the majority of the game."