Newcastle United boss John Carver has defended stand-in skipper Moussa Sissoko.

Carver refuted talk that he isn't an appropriate replacement for Fabricio Coloccini.

He said: "The captain is your leader and what you don't see is he is excellent with the French guys.

"He keeps them in check, he is the enforcer, which is good. Sometimes you give extra responsibilities to players and they thrive, sometimes they freeze. I have seen him have excellent games as captain - Arsenal (was one) - but he had one of his quieter games against Sunderland."