Newcastle United manager John Carver was keeping mum regarding his decision to leave out Jonas Gutierrez for the clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Gutierrez was excluded from the 18-man Newcastle squad prior to the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Spurs at St James' Park and his omission was certainly a surprise as the Magpies' squad had been ravaged by injuries of late.

Following the game, manager Carver was understandably questioned by the reporters as to why the Argentine was left out but the Geordie boss did not feel he had any explaining to do.

He said: "Selection, yes, (we have) a pool of 18 players. I have my reasons for that and I don't want to talk about Gutierrez anymore."