McTominay disgusted by racial abuse

The midfielder, who scored the extra-time winner against West Ham United in Tuesday night's Emirates FA Cup tie, accepts that criticism goes with the territory of playing for the Reds but cannot comprehend why individuals are being subjected to sickening comments on the various social platforms.

Axel Tuanzebe was singled out after the recent Sheffield United game, which prompted the club to issue a statement condemning the posts and reiterating our commitment to the All Red All Equal campaign. Others have also been racially abused, including Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Women's team star Lauren James.

Scott was asked if he needed a thick skin to make the grade at United, and replied: "Yeah, criticism is a part of football. It's no problem. I've been criticised a million times before and I'll be criticised again for sure. That's not the problem, at all.

“The problem is when you start believing what other people say, whether it's good things or bad things. You just have to keep all the outside noise, especially at this football club, to a bare minimum. You can't read too much or if there's good articles about you, bad articles about you, you can't dive into them with too much detail because you have to have a thick skin in football, as you see with what's been going on with the racial abuse.

“It's a disgrace and that's the type of people who are on social media saying the things that they're saying at this moment in time. Honestly, it makes me feel sick coming in seeing Axel the next day after the game. I don't remember which game it was. But I feel like it's an absolute shambles and that's somebody, one of my brothers who I've grown up with for a long, long time now, and to see that happen to him is absolutely disgusting."

The whole issue is one that confuses McTominay, who has grown up with his fellow Academy graduates and considers them all to be like brothers.

"I just don't even think about the situation with people having different ethnic backgrounds," he said. "I just never would say: 'I'm white, Axel's black.' How are we any different? It's exactly the same. We've grown up through the same school together, we've played football together for years , so it infuriates me.

“It's a really touchy subject and it's something that's hard to talk about in that respect. But I feel like now we are getting to the awareness which it needs to have, because these are my brothers who I've played with for years and years, and to see it happening is a shambles. It's a disgrace."