Social media a 'safe haven for abuse' - Heckingbottom

Social media has made the abuse of footballers "the norm", according to Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom.

Lancashire Police are investigating after Preston's Thierry Small was racially abused in an Instagram post following the own goal he scored in Monday's 1-1 draw with QPR in the Championship.

"Any sort of abuse is something I really don't like, but people are big and brave on social media," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We know the police are involved and it's someone not connected to us, who lives out of the country and is known to have done it before, targeting players at other clubs so it looks like he's a professional idiot rather than just a one-off idiot."

Preston released a statement condemning the abuse aimed at Small but Heckingbottom said the problem is a difficult one to deal with.

"Social media plays a part in it because it becomes a norm - you see some of the stuff that's written on there is evil, so to cross that line to become racist, it's smaller because people are doing it all the time and it's just promoting it

"It's a safe haven and nothing happens, we'll never see this guy, he won't do it to our faces.

"If it's someone at the stadium the police can deal with it, but to hide behind an online profile, it's just something we have to make sure Thierry knows we've got his back and the fans will show their love for him at the next game."

Preston are currently 14th in the Championship table and visit Charlton Athletic on Saturday (15:00 BST).

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[BBC]