The rival managers confronted each other during a stormy second half when Derby goal scorer Jay McEveley launched himself at Andriy Voronin with a crude challenge.

Benitez took exception to the tackle and raced out of his dug-out while Jewell thought Voronin had made the most of the tackle to get McEveley booked.

Both managers made their feelings clear before squaring up to each other as match officials struggled to calm the situation down.

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The feuding duo were eventually pulled apart as the game continued but both Benitez and Jewell face an anxious wait to discover if they will be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

FA officials will wait to discover what is included in the match report of referee Alan Wiley before deciding whether or not to take the matter further.

Benitez said: "The longer the game went on the more physical and aggressive Derby were. For me, it was a bad tackle.

"He (Jewell) said his player didn't touch him but it was a different point of view. At least I didn't receive a tackle from him (Jewell) when he approached me."

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce, meanwhile, has launched a furious attack on his players who were booed off the pitch for a second successive match after losing 1-0 to struggling Wigan.

The loss came in the wake of a 2-2 draw at home to Derby.

With a few minutes remaining at the JJB Stadium, the majority of the 5,500 travelling Newcastle fans sang: "We're s---, and we're sick of it."

Allardyce agreed with Newcastle's success-starved supporters. "If I was them I would be singing what they sang because we're not good enough," he said.

"I know it's not good enough, so it doesn't take much for them to work out it's not good enough. They are not daft."

Allardyce laid the blame for the display squarely at the feet of his team.

"The level of form they have dropped to is unacceptable," he said.

"Everyone can have an off day, but our off days are really off."

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