Southgate: 'No doubt in my mind' players were racially abused by fans

England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed Montenegro supporters targeted Three Lions players with racial abuse during his side's dominant 5-1 victory at the Stadion Pod Goricom in Podgorica on Tuesday.

"I definitely heard abuse of Danny Rose when he got booked at the end of the game," Southgate said post-match, according to BBC Sport. "There's no doubt in my mind that happened and we'll report it to UEFA. It's not acceptable."

Raheem Sterling, who has been the target of racial insults from opposition supporters in the past, pulled at his ears in response to reported monkey chants following his 81st-minute goal.

"I'm not sure about Raheem. I had a quick chat with Danny but I've not had a chance to speak to Raheem," Southgate added. "I know what I heard. We'll definitely deal with it in the right way and we have to make sure we support our players."

Three Lions teen Callum-Hudson Odoi addressed the chants in a post-match interview, saying, "When you are hearing stuff like that from the fans it's not right, it's unacceptable. And hopefully, UEFA deal with it properly because, obviously, when I went over there, me and Rosey heard it: they were saying ... monkey stuff."

Sterling was the target of alleged racial abuse during Manchester City's visit to Chelsea in December; one Blues supporter received a lifetime ban after photos surfaced depicting the incident.

England's victory, its first in three attempts in Montenegro, keeps 2018's World Cup semifinalists atop Group A in Euro 2020 qualification with six points.