No personal hearing for Souness

Newcastle boss Graeme Souness will not defend himself in person as he fights an FA charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

The 52-year-old Scot today formally denied a breach of Rule E3 – “a failure to act in the best interests of the game and/or having brought the game into disrepute” – over his post-match comments on the performance of referee Barry Knight following his side’s 2-0 defeat at Everton on May 7.