Walsall's Tyreik Wright stands up to online racist abuse

The Aston Villa loanee, who joined Walsall in January, posted an Instagram story on Tuesday night highlighting a news story that white schoolchildren will not face criminal charges for a racist attack on a black student.

A random account, without a profile picture, directly messaged Wright in response to his Instagram story attacking the 19-year-old using racist slurs.

Wright had a short conversation with this person saying "surely you know that's wrong" but the account continued to hurl vile racist abuse at the Saddlers loanee.

The Republic of Ireland Under-19 international posted screenshots of the messages on his Instagram story and received support from compatriot and West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

This comes after a string of racist attacks on Premier League footballers, all coming through social media platforms.

Walsall and Villa fans condemned the racist abuse on Twitter and have sent Wright messages of support.

In a statement Villa said the matter was now being investigated by West Midlands Police.

The statement read: "Aston Villa Football Club is appalled by the racist abuse of one our academy players, Tyreik Wright.

"Tyreik, who is currently on loan at Walsall, received sickening and abhorrent messages via his Instagram account, messages which the club have reported to both the social media platform and West Midlands Police.

"The club is liaising with WMP’s Hate Crime Unit who are now investigating this incident.

"Aston Villa will work alongside Walsall FC to provide Tyreik with any support he requires and will continue to do everything we can to report and help root out all forms of discrimination."

In a separate statement, Walsall insisted they were 'appalled' by the racist abuse and that Wright had been spoken to – with both clubs offering the teenager support.

"Walsall Football Club are appalled by the racist abuse on loan winger Tyreik Wright has received online," the statement said.

"As soon as we were made aware of the abhorrent messages, sent to him via Instagram, we spoke with Tyreik and his parent club, Aston Villa, and reported it to West Midlands Police and their Hate Crime Unit.

"The club will work alongside Aston Villa and West Midlands Police to assist with the investigation and provide Tyreik with all the support he needs.

"Walsall Football Club will not tolerate racism or discrimination in any shape or form."