Swindon Town have released a statement announcing their support for Paolo Di Canio amid his race row with former player Jonathan Tehoue.

The French striker spent last season on loan at the County Ground and claimed that Di Canio had aimed a racial slur at him during that time.

Tehoue alleged that the Italian called him by his skin colour rather than his name, but the Swindon board have come out in defence of their manager.

"It is our deeply held suspicion that the player is using this claim to justify his own failings and divert blame to our manager who has achieved so much in the first year of his tenure at Swindon Town," read an excerpt from the statement.

"Accordingly, we continue to stand by Mr. Di Canio and the contents of our statement issued on 15 May 2012."

In the earlier statement, the Robins hierarchy insisted that Di Canio had their "complete and unequivocal support".