Declan Rice clears up why his shorts were stained with a 'very suspicious' mark

Declan Rice has responded to rumours circulating on social media regarding a suspicious mark on his shorts during Arsenal's match against Porto in the Champions League.

Despite Arsenal's victory, attention turned to Rice's shorts, with fans speculating that he may have had an unfortunate accident on the pitch.

The discussion reached That Peter Crouch Podcast, prompting Steve Sidwell to contact Rice for clarification.

'Dec, hi mate. Sorry, I'm just doing the podcast with Starky and Crouchy. There's a picture circulating on socials with you bending over to take a corner – looks like the other night against Porto – and there's a dark stain on your shorts.' Sidwell said.

'Great result by the way. We're just looking to confirm or deny… when you go in after and you took your shorts off, were there no skidders?' He continued.

'If you could come back and confirm or deny that, that would be great, cheers.'

The record-breaking midfielder responded: 'I've seen that circulating and it does look very suspicious. That's because there is nothing else around the shorts other than that area,'

'I can confirm that there were no skidders, mate.' Rice added. 'So, I'm happy to assume it's 100 per cent mud.

'I did fly into a few tackles and got myself in a few positions… So yeah mate, it definitely ain't that.'

Rice confirmed that the mark on his shorts was not due to any mishap but rather mud from tackles during the game.

He assured listeners that there were no 'skidders' and explained the circumstances behind the mark.

The incident brought to mind Gary Lineker's famous moment during a World Cup match in 1990 when he experienced a similar issue on the pitch due to illness.

Despite the speculation, Rice clarified that his situation was purely a case of muddy shorts from playing.