The West Ham defender James Tomkins has accused Manchester United’s Robin van Persie of a deliberate and “malicious” elbow at Upton Park on Sunday.

Tomkins suffered a broken nose during the 1-1 draw as a result of a clash with Marouane Fellaini but while he believes that incident was accidental, he claims Van Perise’s was intentional.

“The nose is a bit swollen. Fellaini was the second time in the match when I broke it. He has always got that about him when he goes up with his hands a lot,”Tomkins said.

“It is tough to say he does it deliberately, but with the Van Persie one, I think he had a look at me first and then he has gone for me. I think that was more malicious than the other one, even though I came out worse the second time.”

Van Persie was not reprimanded for his tangle with Tomkins by the referee Mark Clattenburg but the defender believes it warranted a least a yellow card.

He said: “I think it was definitely a yellow at least but I don’t like to say that someone should have got sent off. I am sure there are challenges that I might make in the future that could be yellow or something else.”