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Paul Ince tells Sterling he can help him in fight against racism

  /  autty

Paul Ince wants to help Raheem Sterling in the fight to kick racism out of football and has told him his door is always open if he needs some guidance.

Chelsea have suspended four supporters after Sterling told the police, who are investigating the incident, he heard racist abuse coming from the stands at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Following the incident, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville revealed that the Manchester City winger asked for his help during Euro 2016 after he received 'vicious' abuse and felt 'targeted' on and off the pitch.

Neville admitted he didn't quite know how to deal with such a vexed issue and said in hindsight perhaps more could have been done.

Ince, however, who became England's first black captain in 1993, believes he and other black former players can act as mentors to people like Sterling as they may have dealt with similar problems.

'If Sterling wants to open his heart up, it should be to someone like me because I know what he's going through,' he told The Sun.

'I've been through it. He knows where I am, we aren't far from each other. I live in Liverpool and he lives in Manchester – my door is always open.

'It's the same with Ian Wright, John Barnes or Les Ferdinand — black people should talk to black people because they have experienced the same things.

'Myself and those guys can tell him how we handled it, what we did to deal with it, how it affected us and what we did to let it not affect us.

'Gary would give a different answer because he isn't black – he can't help Raheem with his experiences or how he is feeling.

'You can't learn or develop as a person if you've got someone saying "well I'm not that experienced so if I were you I would do this" – that's no good.'

One fan, identified by MailOnline as 60-year-old Colin Wing, is alleged to have called Sterling a 'f****** black c***', although he claims he used the word 'Manc', not 'black'.

Sterling on Sunday issued a statement on Instagram in which he said that he believed black players and white players were not treated equally by the media, including the Daily Mail and MailOnline, and that he believes this helps 'fuel racism and aggressive behaviour'.

The footage of Chelsea fans abusing the footballer has appalled millions and Sterling has been widely praised for the way he laughed in the face of the abhorrent abuse and how he has spoken out about the matter.

The England star has also recently spoken in the winter edition of The Glass Magazine about becoming more vocal and being able to speak out on important issues in order to hopefully help others further down the line.

Now, the previous generation in Ince has offered yet more experience to guide the likes of Sterling in a bid to rid football of racism for good.