GARETH SOUTHGATE has said he will talk with players about how to respond to racism if they encounter it on the pitch.
The England manager is set to meet with the team ahead of their Euro 2020 qualifier in Bulgaria in October to discuss how to deal with any racist abuse.
Southgate, who spoke out about racism in football following a series of high profile incidents, said that racist abuse against players was a “concern” and made reference to previous incidents.
He said: "We've already planned what our schedule looks like and we're going to discuss it with the players before we go, because we're aware that there is history there and we want to make sure that we're all prepared for what might happen and how we want to respond,” Southgate said.
Players from the England team were subjected to racism in Bulgaria in 2011. During England’s 3-0 away win against Bulgaria, Ashley Young, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott were subjected to racist monkey chants from home fans.
The racist abuse of England players saw Uefa punish the Bulgarian Football Union with a €40,000 fine.
Last Saturday, during England’s match against Bulgaria, a fan in the away end at Wembley was removed and then arrested for allegedly racially abusing Raheem Sterling.
Southgate added: "So, we are going to address that when we all get back together. We didn't think it was right to do it this month because it's too far away from the games, but we have to hope... we're not confident that we'll go there and nothing will happen."
England will travel to Bulgaria’s capital Sofia for their match on October 14.
The match at Bulgaria’s Vasil Levski Stadium will be partially closed – a penalty handed out in response to the racist behaviour of their fans in June.