Newcastle United have admitted to a charge of failing to control their players in last weekend's Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland, but have asked the Football Association to reassess the case.
Magpies captain Fabricio Coloccini was dismissed just before half-time for a foul on Steven Fletcher, an incident which led to Adam Johnson opening the scoring from the penalty spot in a 3-0 win for the Wearsiders.
Newcastle appealed to the FA over referee Robert Madley's decision to dismiss Coloccini, and English football's governing body rescinded the defender's red card.
However, Newcastle were subsequently charged with failing to control their players in relation to how they reacted to Coloccini's dismissal, with the club admitting liability.
But the Magpies have asked the FA to reassess the charge, with a club statement reading: "Newcastle United have admitted a charge of failing to control their players in last weekend's Tyne-Wear derby defeat at Sunderland.
"The charge relates to the players' reaction to the match official's decision, which saw Sunderland awarded a penalty and captain Fabricio Coloccini issued with a red card, which has since been rescinded. The club has admitted the charge but has submitted an application for it to be reassessed due to mitigating circumstances."
Coloccini leaned heavily on Fletcher as the Sunderland striker sought to get on the end of a Jermain Defoe through-ball just before half-time.
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren criticised referee Madley after the incident, which did his team few favours in their unsuccessful attempt to avoid a sixth successive derby defeat to their fierce rivals.
The Newcastle boss said: "It's simple: he is wrong in my opinion. Referees are part and parcel of the game and you control your performance -- you can't control the opponent or the referee and they can affect the result. And they have done today -- not so much the opponent, but definitely the referee.
"I have seen lots of challenges like that in the game, in every game and, outside the box, they are never given. It's a double whammy -- a penalty and 10 men. It made it very difficult.
"We need an experienced referee for this and I think he was a little too quick to make a decision."
Second-half goals from Billy Jones and Fletcher sealed a victory for Sunderland which saw them move above their rivals, although both teams occupy positions in the bottom three above Aston Villa.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.