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Gary Lineker has responded calmly after being attacked by The Sun newspaper on Friday.

The former England striker was targeted by the Rupert Murdoch-owned daily after daring to express compassion for refugees.

In what can only be described as an enormous coincidence, Lineker had previously taken aim at The Sun for peddling "lies" about child migrants in their front page on Thursday.

The Sun called for the Match of the Day presenter to lose his job, leaning on right-wing Tory MPs for soundbites that questioned his suitability to work for the BBC.

But Lineker responded with calm and composure on Twitter after receiving an overwhelming amount of support.

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"Getting a bit of a spanking today," joked Lineker, "but things could be worse: Imagine, just for a second, being a refugee having to flee from your home."

The 55-year-old struck the perfect tone with his response, and confidently declared that he won't be losing his role as the face of Britain's most-watched sports television programme every Saturday night.

A BBC spokesman told The Sun: “Gary is a freelance broadcaster and this is a personal Twitter account.”

Mirror columnist Stan Collymore lent his support to fellow ex-pro Lineker in a series of tweets.

Collymore declared himself #TeamLineker as thousands of people sent their support to the BT Sport presenter.

And Lineker aimed a final dart at his detractors by tweeting "can't wait to present Match of the Day this weekend."