Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was left with a feeling of injustice after Callum McManaman’s tackle injured Massadio Haidara in the Magpies’ 2-1 loss to Wigan.
Defender Haidara suffered suspected knee ligament damage following the challenge that went unpunished.
“It is almost injustice you feel,” said Pardew, whose side were beaten late on.
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez said: “It is a contact sport and these things happen but there was never any intent.”
Pardew’s frustration was compounded when Maynor Figueroa appeared to handle in the build-up to Arouna Kone’s 90th-minute winner.
“Of course there is [extra frustration at the goal]. Your team-mate has got a terrible injury and the tackle is not punished. It’s difficult – you want to get that extra bit, not retribution, but you want to win the game,” Pardew told BBC Sport.
Referee Mark Halsey did not award a free-kick for McManaman’s tackle on Haidara.
The 20-year-old, who joined from Nancy on a five-and-a-half-year deal in January, had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes after replacing the injured Mathieu Debuchy.
McManaman, 21, who was making his first start in the Premier League, got a slight touch of the ball before following through and catching the defender on the knee and thigh.
The game was held up for five minutes while Frenchman Haidara received treatment on the pitch before he was carried off on a stretcher.
“It was an awful tackle. I have got a boy going to hospital and that’s a worse feeling than losing,” added Pardew.
“[Haidara is] on his way to hospital. It looks like knee ligaments and he’s got terrible bruising on his leg as well.
“Obviously [the tackle] was right over the other side [of the pitch]. It looked a bad challenge but I didn’t realise how bad until it filtered through to us from the sideline.”
Despite the severity of the tackle, Martinez is confident his striker will not receive a retrospective ban – which would rule him out of their Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Millwall – as a result of television evidence.
“What you need to look at in those incidents is if there is intention, a nastiness about the tackle. We are not a nasty team,” he said.
“He [McManaman] has not a nasty bone and is not bad-intentioned.
“The referee was in a perfect position, he is looking at the incident, where the ball is and where the ball is hitting.
“When you get the ball and then there is a follow-up it is very difficult for a panel to punish that.”
The challenge sparked a half-time fracas with Magpies assistant John Carver trying to get to the Latics forward. Carver was sent off along with Wigan coach Graham Barrow.
“If the opposing player had a bad injury, as a club we will contact the player,” added Martinez.
“I can guarantee that it is part of his enthusiasm and trying to fight for every ball. Maybe it’s just a striker’s tackle.
“I believe it is a bad challenge but it’s not malicious.”
