Liverpool legend and former Newcastle United boss Graeme Souness has accused one of his former players of feigning an injury ahead of a crucial Premier League tie.

Souness’s time in Tyneside was a rather unspectacular one. The former Scotland midfielder managed the Magpies in 84 games, winning just 36 matches. Despite that, Souness has shared some rather interesting stories from his Newcastle days in his new autobiography which is being serialised by the Times.

He has accused former Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy of feigning an injury ahead of Newcastle’s match against Arsenal in 2005. Souness also insisted that Bellamy’s antics ultimately got him sold by the club.

“Craig feigned injury before a game against Arsenal in 2005, which was very disappointing and led to him leaving the club,” he wrote.

“I wanted him to play wide in that game, but he wanted to play as a central striker. As I came out for a training session before the game, he was walking off past me, so I asked him what was wrong.

“He said he was feeling tightness in his calf or hamstring. Later, when I saw Dean Saunders, my assistant, he said the senior players had told him that Craig had told them he was going to feign an injury.

“I confronted Craig and took him to see Freddy Shepherd, and in the end he admitted he was feigning injury. Bellamy would later say that while he admitted his intention to feign injury he had not gone through with it.”

Bellamy spent his last season with Newcastle on loan at Scottish side Celtic. The Welshman came under fire once again when some abusive text messages were allegedly sent from his phone to Newcastle captain Alan Shearer after their defeat against Manchester United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

He was subsequently sold to Blackburn Rovers at the completion of his loan.