Ben Dawson has labelled Elias Sorensen's red card in Newcastle United's Under-23s derby-day victory over Sunderland as a 'moment of madness'.
The Magpies emerged victorious at St James' Park in the Valentine's Day clash with goals from Tom Allan and Yannick Toure sealing the points.
However, the victory was marred by an ugly late clash which saw both Sorensen and the Black Cats captain Jack Bainbridge issued straight red cards.
The young Danish striker reacted furiously to a heavy challenge from the defender, and his shove in the chest prompted a mass brawl.
Having returned from a frustrating loan spell at League Two outfit Carlisle United where he struggled for game time, Sorensen will now face another spell on the sidelines.
Speaking after the 2-0 victory, academy coach Dawson - who has overseen three straight victories for the Under-23s - believes the 20-year-old delivered a good display before losing his cool late on.
He said: "I think Ells is a bit frustrated he's not managed to hit the heights he did last year. He's come back to the group and more recently has worked really hard.
"He's performed really well - we're asking him to play just off the front in recent games and he's been a great link man.
"His movement has been clever and his touch has been good. He's combined well with Yannick - you saw that in the first half in particular where there seems to be a good little partnership developing.
"It's just frustrating he has that one moment of madness there. He has got himself in a great place mentally with his performances, but it is now going to cost him about three games.
"I think it's more frustration than confidence - he is a confident young man. It's just that frustration of not scoring as many as he would have liked."
Sorensen scored 20 goals in his first full season with the Magpies' underage side. But disappointing loan spells at Blackpool and Carlisle have seemingly left the young striker short on confidence.
Dawson explained the decisions were motivated by a desire for the 20-year-old to experience a "senior environment", and that the club will revisit a third possible loan move in the summer.
He added: "There's certain players who need to go out and experience what it's like. You've got to fight and scrap to get your way into the team.
"Every day, you've got to be on it, when the senior players are digging you out and having a go.
"That's something we felt Elias needed, especially off the back of how well he did last year.
"Yes, we're disappointed he didn't get as much game time as we would have hoped and that was partly the reason for us bringing him back to work with him here.
"We hope the two spells he's had have helped him mature and we will reassess again at the end of the season as to what happens next year."
