Newcastle United boss John Carver admits he has had a very difficult week in the wake of the Tyne-Wear derby loss to Sunderland.

The Magpies were beaten 1-0 by the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light on Sunday which was the Geordie club's fifth-straight defeat to the Mackem.

On Thursday, Carver spoke about the gloom few days he experienced after the negative result and has urged instant improvement from his players as they prepare for Monday night's trip to Liverpool.

"It's been extremely difficult. Certainly Monday was one of the darkest days in my career, and I'm still hurting, to be honest," he said on Sky Sports News HQ.

"The one thing I have to do is not to show it in front of the players, but it was a bitter pill to take. It was the manner of the defeat.

"As a club collectively, we accept the responsibility, we accept it wasn't good enough - and I'm talking about the people at the top, from the board down - over to the tea lady, we all take responsibility, players, staff, because it just wasn't good enough at the weekend against Sunderland."