Earlier in the week, Carver had reacted angrily to comments from former Manchester United and Everton man Phil Neville that Newcastle "had their flip-flops on" during last weekend's 3-0 loss at Goodison Park.
Newcastle were well below par in that reverse on Merseyside but demonstrated great fight after falling 2-0 down against Arsenal.
Moussa Sissoko halved the deficit in the 48th minute and Newcastle were unfortunate not to find a leveller, with a string of saves from David Ospina preserving victory for Arsenal.
And Carver said: "People said we had our flip-flops on but if you saw our second-half performance that's not the case. I'll keep driving the players on.
"They want to keep working and keep having a go. The criticism was a bit surprising because it came from an ex-player, and they know what we have to go through, but we certainly weren't on the beach today."
‘As I was delivering the first line in my pants, all I could see in my peripheral vision was four shoulders going up and down, of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright giggling’ Gary Lineker tells FFT about the night he hosted Match of the Day in his underwear
‘It was an incredible experience to go to Liverpool. I sang a Bavarian song for my initiation but it didn’t last long – after 30 seconds I got beer over my head’: German star reveals unruly welcome at Anfield from his team-mates
