Boateng: No racist slur from Barmby

George Boateng has sought to defuse his bitter row with Nick Barmby that has escalated since an alleged skirmish between the pair at the end of Middlesbrough’s clash with Leeds at the Riverside on Saturday.

The Boro midfielder was reported to have originally claimed that Barmby had made racist comments to him, a suggestion the England and Leeds man comprehensively rejected in an impromptu press conference on Monday.