Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha revealed the sickening racist abuse he received ahead of their clash against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. Zaha posted a series of screenshots sent to him on Instagram, with the Ivory Coast international tweeting: “Woke up to this today.”

One of the vile messages read: “You better not score tomorrow you black c***.”

The fan, who sent him pictures of the Ku Klux Klan, even threatened to go to Zaha’s house.

After revealing the horrific abuse, West Midlands Police confirmed they are looking into the matter.

They tweeted: “Hi Wilfried. We are looking into who the owner of this account is and would encourage you to report it to your local police force too.”

Crystal Palace’s official Twitter account also confirmed their support of the winger.

Zaha’s post comes as English football is embracing the Black Lives Matter movement following the tragic death of George Floyd in America last month.

Premier League stars have been taking a knee before kick off to show solidarity.

Players also had Black Lives Matter on the back of their shirts when games returned last month.

On the horrific racist abuse Zaha received, Palace manager Roy Hodgson said: “I think it’s important [that players and football clubs continue to raise awareness of the abuse suffered].

“I think it is being highlighted very much anyway with the black lives matter movement, and everyone seems to be making such an effort to eradicate this type of behaviour.

“It is very saddening on the day of a game that a player wakes up to this cowardly and despicable abuse.

“I think it is right that Wilf made people aware of it; I don’t think it is something he should keep quiet about.

In a recent development, West Midlands police announced the arrest of a 12 year old boy from Solihull in connection with the incident.