England players say they are prepared to walk off the pitch against Bulgaria if any of them receive racist abuse from the stands.

The Three Lions will play in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on Monday in a partially closed stadium after Bulgarian supporters were found guilty of racist behaviour during matches against Kosovo and the Czech Republic in June.

UEFA has ordered the Bulgarian FA to block off 5,000 seats out of 46,340 at the Vasil Levski National Stadium for the EURO 2020 qualifier.

Following a discussion between manager Gareth Southgate and the team on Monday, England players agreed to adhere to UEFA’s “three-step” protocol to tackle racism.

However, they say they will simply walk off the pitch together if a teammate is racially abused and does not want to stay on.

UEFA’s first step involves any player subject to abuse notifying their captain, who will then speak to the referee, who will stop the game and ask for a public announcement warning to the crowd.

A second incident of racism heard by the referee or reported to them will lead to teams being taken off the pitch and a further tannoy warning that the game may be abandoned if abuse persists.

The third step would be a decision taken by the referee, in consultation with team officials and players, over whether the game should be abandoned.

But England striker Tammy Abraham, who thinks the rules are too lenient, said the Three Lions could defy the protocol if they do not feel it is working.

“Harry Kane even said that if it happens and we’re not happy with it, we speak to the player and if he’s not happy, we all come off the pitch together,” he said.

“It’s a team thing. Don’t isolate one person, we’re a whole team. If it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.

“We did speak about that.

“Harry Kane did ask the question about instead of going through the three steps, if we decide that we want to stop the game and we want to stop the game – no matter what the score is – if we’re not happy with it, as a team we’ll decide whether or not to stay on the pitch.”

The striker, who was racially abused online after missing a penalty shoot-out against Liverpool, said he thinks there should only be “one strike because it gives people excuses”.

“One time, twice, three times – it gives silly people excuses,” he added.

“Like we were all saying yesterday, if it happens and let’s say there’s a warning or whatever in the stadium, then it happens again, we have to make a decision as a team and with the staff.”

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