Matt Murray: Cowardly racists won't put Wolves' Carl Ikeme off his game

I always try to catch up with Carl after the game – we go back a long way and he has come an incredible distance from the young lad who joined the Wolves academy and has matured as a terrific goalkeeper and consummate professional.

I was hoping to chat to him about yet another win and yet another clean sheet. I expected Carl to be buzzing, but instead he told me he was racially abused by individuals in the crowd behind his goal in the second half.

It was just an idiotic minority – Walsall is a fine and friendly club, with Dean Smith and his staff doing a tremendous job. It is great to have that passionate, local Black Country rivalry. But when banter spills over not just to abuse, but abuse about the colour of your skin, it must not be tolerated.

Carl clearly heard the racist language, so assumes the stewards must have too. George Elokobi also got some racial abuse when he was warming up. It is not just offensive; it is cowardly. I would like to see a fan racially abuse Carl or George face to face, rather than when hiding in a crowd.

While there is always a red-hot atmosphere when we meet our closest neighbours, it is usually just light-hearted banter. I remember shouts of "Murray where's your neck?', 'skinny legs' and 'Dingle' that are funny and all part of the game.

You can accept good-natured abuse, especially in the heat of local battle when passions run high and with a full house, but racial abuse is nasty and pre-meditated.

Carl would have been hurt by it, but you can bet it didn't affect his performance – quite the opposite.

These cowards don't seem to realise that it doesn't put you off. It spurs you on. I have been the victim of racial abuse in the past. While it makes you angry and upset that such a thing still goes on in our football grounds – and, indeed, society as a whole – it is a hugely motivating force.

I would like to stress that I don't think Walsall has any particular problem; it is just a few people, but they need to be identified if possible and punished.

The incident at the end of the game, by contrast, was something and nothing. Carl went to shake hands with Walsall keeper Richard O'Donnell and congratulated him on some good saves. Aaron McCarey, as he does at the end of every game, rushed up to celebrate with Carl and O'Donnell, naturally raging as a keeper because you've conceded three goals, took exception and gave Aaron a little shove and Carl stepped in.

O'Donnell probably thought the celebration was too in his face, especially as Aaron had a loan spell at Walsall last season, but it is just another example of the team spirit at Wolves. Whether playing or not, you are part of a successful squad that is top of the league and looking to rip up record books.

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