The Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has accused Manchester United's Patrice Evra of manufacturing the handshake incident with Luis Suárez at Old Trafford that further inflamed the race row between the two players.

Suárez was given an eight-match ban by the Football Association for racially abusing Evra at Anfield in October and the situation flared up again when the striker refused to shake the France international's hand at Old Trafford last month. Suárez, Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre and manager Kenny Dalglish all apologised the following day, with Ayre condemning the Uruguay international for misleading the club when he expressed his intention to shake Evra's hand "but then chose not to do so".

Johnson, however, has now claimed Evra "stayed up all night" concocting a plan to get Suárez into trouble by lowering his hand by his side during the pre-match ritual.

Liverpool have refused to comment on their defender's stance, insisting Dalglish had not read the interview in the Daily Mail and therefore could not comment before the manager's press conference on Thursday morning, but are deeply unhappy that one of their own players has reignited the controversy. A spokesman said: "We will not be making any comment."

The club were unaware Johnson had given the interview this week as part of his promotional duties for a new England sticker collection for children. They have advised all players not to comment publicly on the Suárez affair but are not expected to take any action against Johnson for expressing a personal opinion.

Johnson, who was himself criticised for offering firm support to Suárez, said: "Evra was clever at Old Trafford. Luis didn't shake his hand because Evra's hand was down there. What else is Luis supposed to do? Would you go to shake someone's hand if their hand is way down there by their side? Course not.

"But then, because Luis didn't do it, Evra has pulled him back by his arm as he walked on, as if to say to everybody: 'Look, I wanted to shake his hand and he didn't …'

"Evra probably stayed up all night thinking about how to do that. The whole thing was ridiculous."

Johnson also said he was convinced that the original racism charge was incorrect, and that it was the club's idea that they should wear T-shirts supporting Suárez before their game at Wigan Athletic. This contradicts claims from Liverpool players after the Wigan game that the T-shirts were their own idea.

"The evidence was Luis's word against Evra's. I'm not saying Evra is lying but it's his word against Luis's, isn't it? So how did it all turn out to be so strong in Evra's favour? I work with the lad every day. There is no way he said that.

"With the media these days and the way it was going to be blown up, maybe the T-shirts thing wasn't the right thing to do. How should I say this? We wore them to show our support for Luis. It wasn't to send a message to everyone else. It was just for him.

"It seemed to come across that we were making a point. We weren't. It was the club's idea. But obviously we all agreed. We didn't really think about how people would react."

Johnson accused the former Manchester United defender Paul McGrath of racism after he used Twitter to criticise the England international for wearing the T-shirt at Wigan. Johnson said: "The McGrath thing … that's actually racist. Saying what he said is racist. He is only saying that to me because I was the only black lad wearing the T-shirt. He's targeting me because of my colour."

McGrath tweeted on Thursday: "It saddens me that Glen Johnson has called me a racist, but he is entitled to his opinion."

Johnson also explained why he had been so publicly supportive of Suárez on his own Twitter account. "I wrote what I thought on Twitter. Then when I saw him the next day he came over and said 'thanks' and that it meant a lot to him. I didn't write that for him to come and say thank you. I just wanted to let people know my point of view. Like it or hate it, I don't care.

"It was nice for him to see his team-mates supporting him, I guess. But what people don't appreciate is that these things stick with people and it can ruin careers. He could get almost forced out of Liverpool. He's a good lad and a fantastic player and all he wants to do is get on and play football.

"I can't understand how people don't get that in his culture the word 'negro' or 'negrito' is genuinely normal. Just because he's out of his country he is not going to stop using his mother tongue. If we went to another country, we would use our slang, wouldn't we? I can't see why somebody can get in trouble for using his culture in another country.

"I work with him every day. I know what he is like. Other people don't. I will not change my view."