LIONS WANT TO MAKE A CHANGE

ENGLAND players will hold talks about taking the knee before their World Cup opener with Iran.

Squad members are keen to carry out the anti-racism gesture and take a stand during the tournament but will hold a meeting to agree a united stance.

Three Lions defender Conor Coady insisted he is also in support of raising awareness on human rights for migrant workers and the safety of LGBTQ supporters.

Coady, 29, one of the senior figures in the England squad, said: “I go back to the kind of questions we have answered today in terms of what we can do to affect change.

“What can we try to do to help people as much as we can in the position we find ourselves in?

“We are so, so privileged to find ourselves as footballers.

“We want to try to help as much as we can. We don’t mind the questions.

“We want to get people talking, of course we do, as a team, as players, as individuals.

“We want to get the conversation out there because we need to eradicate this.

“We have seen it too many times in the past. We are doing our best to try and help.

“We’re not going to be able to get rid of it completely even though we want to – but we want to keep on trying to have the conversation about it.

“We will come to a team decision. If I sit here now and say, ‘Yes, we should do it or we shouldn’t do it’, I don’t think that’s part of football.

“We’re a team sport and we will speak to each other over the weekend and find out what is the best way going forward, but what I will say is that we want to help as much as we possibly can.”