Tyrone Mings should be proud of the way he conducted himself after being subjected to sickening racist abuse on his England debut in Bulgaria on Monday, says Kieran Trippier.
Mings, 26, was among the England players to face monkey chants and other abuse before and during the 6-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win.
Afterwards, Mings — whose England debut continues a remarkable rise from non-League football — insisted the racism did not affect him and said he felt sorry for the perpetrators, many of whom were ejected from the stadium by police before half-time. Trippier told Standard Sport: “That just shows what Ty’s like as a character. I thought he was outstanding. He handled everything that went on very well — he’s a very mature player. But everybody else did too, including everyone on the bench. I’m proud of the team today.
“We won’t look back at the racist chanting. We’ll look back at how Ty played. He played fantastically on his debut. He should be very proud and his family can be so too. All of us remember our England debuts. It’s always a proud moment. He can take huge credit for the way he conducted himself on the off the field. It will be the first of many England caps for him.”
Right-back Trippier, who left Tottenham for Atletico Madrid in the summer, was also full of praise for Raheem Sterling, who scored two goals.
Trippier said: “Raz is fantastic – on and off the field. I can’t speak highly enough of him for the way he conducted himself last night.”
The defender added that he thought the whole England operation — players and back-up team — had reacted the right way. “We all handled it very well,’ he said.
