Former Ipswich Town footballer Tyrone Mings has hit out at Essex MP and home secretary Priti Patel after three England players were subject to racist abuse following the Three Lions' defeat to Italy in the final of the European Championships.

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka received racist abuse on social media after missing penalties in the 3-2 shoot-out defeat on Sunday night.

Today Ms Patel said she was "disgusted" at the abuse, having said at the start of the tournament that fans had a right to boo players for taking the knee in protest against racism.

%image(14420697, type="article-full", alt="Ms Patel said today she was "disgusted" at the abuse")

The Aston Villa player, who left Portman Road in 2015, posted: "You don't get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as 'Gesture Politics' and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we're campaigning against, happens."

His tweet was in response to Patel's post on Monday morning which read: "I am disgusted that @England players who have given so much for our country this summer have been subject to vile racist abuse on social media.
"It has no place in our country and I back the police to hold those responsible accountable."

Speaking of the abuse of his teammates, Mings said: "Waking up today and seeing my brothers being racially abused for being brave enough to put themselves in a position to help this country, is something that sickens, but doesn't surprise me."