Dan Burn forced off with injury as stricken Newcastle United star abused by Sunderland crowd

Newcastle United have been dealt a major injury blow during Sunday's clash at Sunderland after Dan Burn was forced off. The defender was seen shaking his head in agony as he came off for Fabian Schar near the end of the first half.

Burn was clattered by Sunderland's Nordi Mukiele, who slid in with force and caught the defender with a knee to the ribs during a 50-50 challenge. Mukiele received a yellow card for the late challenge despite some protests from Newcastle players.

The 33-year-old, who was down for some time and needed treatment, tried to carry on but eventually had to be taken off. Burn was jeered off by the Sunderland fans, who were heard chanting: 'You're just a sad Geordie b-------' at him as he left the pitch clurching his ribs.

Speaking on Sky Sports about the challenge, commentator Gary Neville said: "I think a yellow is harsh. He was entitled to slide for it. What, was he supposed to not go for that?"

Sunderland edged the visitors in the first 45 and eventually got their breakthrough early in the second period when Nick Woltemade inexplicably headed into his own net.

Asked for his reaction to the action-packed first half, pundit Jamie Carragher compared it to the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton.

He said: "It's felt like a throwback. I go back to Merseyside derbies, where there's such a fear of someone conceding the first goal, making that mistake, it's stunting the creativity.

"Newcastle's wide players are so deep, a lot of that is just absolute fear.

"I just hope in the second half that changes, and we get a little bit more goalmouth action."

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, will hope the defender, who has played in every Premier League match this season bar one (which was due to a suspension), has not suffered a serious injury with four more games still to come this month.

The tough challenge on Burn was not an isolated incident in the match, with the Wear-Tyne derby living up to expectations as tackles flew in and the action came thick and fast.

The rivalry between the two clubs was even on display on the scoreboard, with Sunderland deciding to just call Newcastle 'visitors', leading to fury from some fans on social media.

@TerenceSm1th wrote: "Sunderland putting 'visitors' instead of their opponent's name on the scoreboard is genuinely one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard in football," while @Ghalsey11 said: "They won't put the name Newcastle up on their scoreboard. Tell me they haven't been rattled without telling me they've been rattled."

@clay_hazel23381 added: Sunderland simply putting visitors on the electronic scoreboard instead of Newcastle is a level of pettiness I can get behind [laughing emoji]."