The Mail on Sunday has issued the following apology to the Club: "Last week we said one Aston Villa player had thrown his Kick It Out shirt away in disgust and another had removed his early.

"The Mail on Sunday accepts that half the players were asked to remove shirts to split the squad during a pre-match warm-up.

"There was no protest and all the players fully support Kick It Out.

"We are happy to make that clear and apologise for any misunderstanding."