Bulgaria’s manager on the night of their 6-0 defeat by England has claimed that Jordan Henderson tried to convince him he had heard and seen racism against the evidence of his own ears and eyes.

Krasimir Balakov, who resigned last week and has denied being aware during the game of the racism in the stands that twice caused the Euro 2020 qualifier to be halted, made his comments in an interview with the Bulgarian sports website Sportal.bg.

“I was talking to [Kieran] Trippier on the touchline and he was the one trying to console me,” Balakov said of one of the stoppages. “He was saying: ‘No problem, coach.’ [Raheem] Sterling was there as well. Suddenly Jordan Henderson came to me and tried to convince me I had heard and seen things I actually hadn’t. I told him I hadn’t heard anything. People had come to the stadium to watch football.”

Questions about the racism dominated afterwards and Balakov was criticised for his responses, notably for saying that he had not heard the abuse. He also pointed out that England fans had behaved poorly by “whistling and shouting” during the Bulgaria national anthem.

“After the match 99.9% of the questions I was asked by English media were about racism,” he said. “I’m the manager of the national team but I had to reply to political questions. Then everything that happened on social media was brutal, my entire family and my children became targets of the attacks.

“My words were taken out of the context and were spread all over Europe – as if I were supporting racism. I’ve always condemned it. When I was playing I had a lot of black teammates and I always supported them. We have to fight racism.”

The day after the match Balakov strongly condemned the racism and apologised “to the England players and everyone who was offended”.