Former England striker Emile Heskey revealed he once got chased down the street by a man shouting racist abuse at him, but says he was never targeted in English football grounds.

Heskey, who retired in 2016, was a young academy player at Leicester when a fan accosted him outside the stadium and abused him.

The 42-year-old suspects the same man will have been cheering him on when he made his debut as a 17-year-old and went on to help the Foxes win silverware.

Heskey, who also played for Liverpool, Birmingham, Wigan, Aston Villa and Bolton, thinks he would have walked off if he was given the chance.

“I had it with the national team in Slovakia and Croatia,” he said.

“I don’t know because I didn’t have that option. I would like to think I would have (walked off) but I don’t know.

“It is a weird one because when else do you get three chances to have a go at someone and so viciously and get away with it?

“At least it’s there, that’s the good thing, and it is something that can be used, whereas when I was playing there was nothing, you just had to take it on the chin and move on.”