Chelsea have condemned the 'completely unacceptable' abuse of Conor Gallagher following footage of the England international in the tunnel with a young mascot before the Burnley game.<br /><br />Gallagher has been hounded on social media ever since because the captain accidentally blanked a high-five from the youngster, which led trolls to accuse the 24-year-old of racism.<br /><br />That is despite the entire clip showing Gallagher greeting him beforehand and walking out of the tunnel alongside his companion, as Chelsea went on to draw 2-2 with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.<br /><br />The London club have now released an angry statement in response to the abuse of Gallagher, writing: 'Chelsea Football Club is aware of a video clip circulating on social media from Saturday's fixture against Burnley, which has been taken considerably out of context.<br /><br />'The subsequent level of abuse and defamatory comments directed towards Conor Gallagher is completely unacceptable.<br /><br />'We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome.'<br /><br />As Gallagher prepared to lead the team out at Stamford Bridge, the young mascot raised his hand hoping for a handshake.<br /><br />But Gallagher appeared to ignore him and instead put his arm around another - white - mascot standing alongside him in the tunnel.<br /><br />Even though a later picture showed Gallagher with his arms around both mascots a few seconds after the original clip, his social media has been flooded with accusations he is 'racist'. <br /><br />On one recent Instagram post showing Gallagher playing for England last week, comments included 'the king of racism', 'no to racism' and 'black lives matter.'<br /><br />Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said at his pre-Manchester United press conference when asked about Gallagher: 'That has upset me so much because no one wants to do something like this, with this intention.<br /><br />'When you play football and you are there and focused to play and start the game, that sometimes can happen. People try to find things to create a mess and abuse. <br /><br />'Conor is a great, great kid and is always caring about everything. I hate that people feel free to abuse on social media.<br /><br />'To abuse the people is so easy. So easy. Who thinks Conor intends to ignore a mascot? No one. Come on.'<br /><br />Chelsea's disappointing season continued in Saturday's 2-2 draw with relegation candidates Burnley at Stamford Bridge.<br /><br />The result left them a lowly 12th in the Premier League table ahead of Thursday night's visit to United.<br /><br />The Clarets twice replied to Cole Palmer's goals despite being reduced to 10 men after 40 minutes.
