Newcastle United boss John Carver admits defeat to Sunderland two seasons ago had him almost losing control.

The match was highlighted by Paolo di Canio's knee slide down the St James' Park touchline.

"When Paolo was sliding on his knees, I've never been so agitated in my life," said Carver, who still hopes to be given the head coach's role long term, despite having won only two of his 12 games in charge. "I wanted to take the law into my own hands that day because of what I was watching in our stadium.

"It was very, very difficult to take, but you have to take it on the chin and accept it. From that day, that is something that really motivates and drives me to try to get the right result [whenever we play against Sunderland]. I was embarrassed about the way we played that day. Him [Di Canio] doing that p----- me off, but I was embarrassed about the way we played. This is your own stadium, this is your home and it was embarrassing. It was an embarrassing performance and I was embarrassed to be part of that."