Roy Keane says Jeff Hendrick has to do better for the Republic of Ireland after pointing the finger at the midfielder for his role in Jadon Sancho's goal during Thursday's friendly with England.
Ireland were already 1-0 down when Sancho ran onto Jack Grealish's through ball and ran at Hendrick, who had stayed narrow.
It allowed Sancho space and he ran at the midfielder, who backed off and failed to close the Borussia Dortmund star down.
Sancho punished Ireland for the space he was allowed by curling the ball around Hendrick and into the far corner.
It led to anger from ITV pundit Roy Keane, who argued that the 28-year-old Dubliner's defending was not good enough against a player of Sancho's quality.
He said: " Jeff Hendrick has got to get tighter.
"There’s no excuse, there’s bodies around him, he’s in the box, Jeff has to close down.
"This idea that at this level that players can be two or three yards off a dangerous player like that, it’s not good enough, he has to get tighter.”
It led to some comments on social media over how Hendrick had defended the goal.
"Roy Keane rinsing Hendrick just there," one said.
Another tweeted: "Keane spot on there. Hendrick turned his back on Sancho. Faces up, he gets the block in."
Hendrick has had a mixed start to life at Newcastle following his summer move from Burnley.
The midfielder turned down a new contract at Turf Moor to move to the Magpies on a free transfer and has started every Premier League game under Steve Bruce this season.
Yet he has lost possession an average of 7.9 times a game, with his attacking output also lacking.
However, a passing accuracy of 81 per cent and an average of 1.3 interceptions a game show a midfielder who has performed solidly in his own half of the pitch - if not further forward.
