GARETH SOUTHGATE was adamant on Saturday night that there was no race issue between English players.

The Daily Mail released pictures on Friday night of the Under-20 squad eating dinner at the recent Toulon tournament, which could have been taken a century ago, with the black players sitting together on one table and the white players on another.

Other photos showed a similar theme, with the black players congregated together while white players were in a separate area.

While the accompanying article said that the separation was done subconsciously, Southgate was asked about the issue ahead of last night’s match against Sweden.

“I think the article was talking about a social issue, rather than a specific team issue,” the former defender said in Olomouc.

“It is quite clear to me in my experiences with England junior teams that there is no issue. It was a picture that was unrepresentative of what goes on in our development teams.

“I think anyone who has seen this group of players and staff mix over the last two years, or if they have been around the hotel or the training ground for the last couple of weeks alone, will see the realities of the situation.”

The article’s headline asked: “What do these photos tell us about race in Britain today?” but Southgate felt it was unfair to compare England players with what happens in society.

“Well, I’m looking out at the room and not seeing a very multicultural room,” he said.

“I think football can improve. I grew up in a dressing room when I first started playing football with Chris Powell and John Salako, who were my teammates at youth-team level. I am still very close friends with those guys.

“Mark (Bright) and Ian (Wright) were in the first team — I don’t know anything different.

“For me, sport crosses religion, race, everything else. I am well aware of the problems in society and I am well aware that we can all do better, but I find the accusation of a split within teams and in football a little bit difficult to stomach, really.”