Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel charged by FA for David de Gea incident

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has been charged with violent conduct for allegedly stamping on goalkeeper David de Gea in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

Skrtel, 30, now faces a three-match ban which will rule him out of crucial Premier League games against Arsenal and Newcastle United, in addition to their FA Cup quarter-final replay against Blackburn Rovers on 8 April.

He has until 6pm on 24 March to respond to the charge.

The centre half appeared to stand on De Gea's leg while chasing a through ball into the United box in the final moments of Liverpool's 2-1 defeat at Anfield.

The incident provoked a furious response from the United goalkeeper, who had to be restrained by teammate Antonio Valencia.

Referee Martin Atkinson, who had earlier shown a straight red card to Steven Gerrard for a similar incident on Ander Herrera, did not see the incident which was captured on video.

But the FA statement reads: "In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite officials will be asked by The FA to review the footage independently of each other.

"They will then advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

"For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence.

"In this instance, the decision by the panel was unanimous."

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers defended his player, after Sunday's match, insisting Skrtel was "not that type of player".