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Eni Aluko accuses England Women of 'selfish' attitude over Mark Sampson celebration

England Women's Eniola Aluko in action
Image: Eni Aluko took to Twitter to criticise her former team-mates public display of unity with England manager Mark Sampson

Eni Aluko accused the England Women team of a "selfish" attitude after their public show of support for sacked manager Mark Sampson during the 6-0 win over Russia.

Sampson was fired by England on Wednesday evening for "inappropriate and unacceptable behavior" in a previous coaching role.

The English Football Association says it was only made aware last week of the full report into Sampson's conduct as a club coach at Bristol Academy in the Women's Super League, despite the allegations first surfacing in 2014.

Sampson left Bristol in 2013 to take charge of England, who finished third at the 2015 Women's World Cup.

FA CEO Martin Glenn said "during his time at Bristol, Marc had overstepped the professional boundaries between player and coach".

England players celebrate with manager Mark Sampson following Nikita Parris' goal against Russia
Image: England players celebrate with Mark Sampson following Nikita Parris' goal against Russia

During Tuesday's win over Russia, every member of the starting XI raced to the bench after Nikita Parris netted the 11th-minute opener, and the exuberant scenes were the clearest indication yet that Sampson has the full support of his players.

Aluko is the 102-cap former England player whose allegations of racism, harassment and bullying in the Lionesses camp sparked an investigation into Sampson's alleged conduct.

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Aluko was not present at Tranmere's Prenton Park for England's opening 2019 World Cup qualifier.

But after seeing footage of the celebrations, she wrote on Twitter: "It goes without saying I'm delighted, relieved, blessed to be sat where I am right now. Blessings in disguise are often the best blessings.

"For the most together team in the world tonight's 'message' only shows a level of disrespect that represents division and selfish action."

Sampson was surprised by the team's reaction towards him, saying: "I didn't foresee anything coming really, in terms of that."

Parris insisted it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to rush towards Sampson after hitting the first goal, and said it was "definitely not" pre-planned.

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Sampson was delighted with his team after they began their World Cup qualifying with a 6-0 rout of Russia

The 23-year-old was not a member of the squad at the time the alleged incidents at the centre of the claims against Sampson are said to have taken place.

"It came naturally to me, to show that we are a united team," Parris said of her reaction. "We know the situation that's been happening in the media.

"I think it's important that I get my point across, (which) is that I wasn't involved in it, I wasn't in the squad at the time, but in my experience of being in the squad I feel valued and supported and the whole team feels that way, so our celebration was a fitting celebration."

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Nikita Parris was on target as England got their campaign off to a dream start

She added: "I can't celebrate on behalf of Eni. I can only celebrate on behalf of myself and how I feel in that moment.

"I'm not here to disrespect anyone. I'm just here to show how happy I am to be in this squad and how happy I am to score for England."

Lianne Sanderson, who is backing her fellow former England striker Aluko, said of Tuesday night's events: "I'm actually lost for words and feel physically sickened by all of this. They successfully manipulated the players into a them against us."

When asked why players would feel compelled to support Sampson, she added on Twitter: "Because they won't get picked. These are some of the adults that witnessed things that were said, they say they can't remember."

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