The Football Association has charged Aleksandar Mitrovic with violent conduct for an alleged elbow incident.

Mitrovic, a second-half substitute during Newcastle's 3-0 victory against West Ham at St James' Park on Saturday, appeared to catch Hammers midfielder Manuel Lanzini on the side of the head with his elbow late in the game, but the incident was missed by referee Neil Swarbrick and his assistants.

The Serbia international remained on the pitch to score Newcastle's third goal in the 86th minute, but he now faces a three-match ban.

The FA's panel of former referees reviewed the incident to assess whether Mitrovic should be the subject of retrospective action and were unanimous in their verdict that the incident merited a red card.

Should the 22-year-old be charged and suspended, he will miss Newcastle's forthcoming Premier Leagues games against Stoke, Brighton and Liverpool.

He has until Wednesday evening to respond to the charge.

The striker, who cost Newcastle £14.5million when he joined them from Anderlecht during the summer of 2015, was sent off in his fourth Premier League appearance for a challenge on Francis Coquelin, and then again in the final game of the same 2015-16 season for a nasty foul on Kyle Walker.

He played a largely peripheral role during the last campaign as Dwight Gayle led the scoring stakes in the club's successful promotion bid.

There has been speculation for much of this summer that the former Partizan Belgrade player would be sold, but despite a series of enquiries, he remains on the books with manager Rafael Benitez desperately trying to re-shape his squad during what remains of the transfer window.