The Stoke City and Republic of Ireland forward Jonathan Walters has claimed that any fellow professional footballer who spat at him would end up “eating his supper through a straw”.

Walters was speaking in the aftermath of the midweek incident involving Newcastle United’s Papiss Cissé and the Manchester United defender, Jonny Evans. Evans has publicly denied spitting at the Newcastle forward and has until 6pm on Friday to respond but Cissé accepted the charge from the FA. Spitting carries an automatic six-game suspension and Cissé’s ban is likely to be extended since he was charged with violent conduct for elbowing the Everton full-back, Séamus Coleman, earlier in the season.

Walters told TalkSport: “As a player you take anything off the ball; pinches and kicks that are meant to wind you up. Little things like that go on in any match. But spitting is pretty low. If it happened to me and someone spat at my face or towards me then I think he’d be eating his supper through a straw that night. I wouldn’t be that happy. It’s the lowest of the low.”

Cissé apologised after the incident, saying. “I have apologies to make to a lot of people today,” he said. “Firstly to my team-mates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny.

“I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down.

“I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team, they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.”