James McClean can understand why many people took offence to an Instagram post earlier this month which subsequently led to him deleting his account.

The Ireland international posted an image of himself sitting in front of his children wearing a balaclava. The post was captioned 'Today's school lesson - history'.

"If I sat here and said I don't regret things I'd be lying but I can take a lot of abuse and can't have fun back?" McClean told Sky Sports.

It was supposed to be light-hearted joke but I can understand why it didn't go down well. People think I did a history lesson like that but I didn't actually do it.

McClean, who recently donated personal protective equipment to frontline workers in his hometown of Derry, also elaborated regarding online abuse which he has received.

"Things like 'I hope your kids get coronavirus and die' or 'It would be a laugh if your house burned down with your kids inside'.'


"There was someone online, who looked over 40, abusing my kids. Of course (it's upsetting). Footballers are a free hit. It's like it's viewed as we earn this amount of money so we should just take it.

"I've got a good family around me and group of friends. They are the opinions that I value. Not everyone is going to like me especially if you go with the grain.

"It gets annoying when things like that (Instagram post) get all this coverage. When I breathe or look the wrong way there is an article. People get their perception from things like this."

Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

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