SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens says that while protests send a message, ‘more must be done’ to educate people about racism.

Town and Burton Albion did not follow several other games up and down the country at the weekend in kneeling to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Wellens said this was not for any particular reason, and would back a kneeled protest before Saturday’s kick-off against Peterborough United.

The 40-year-old feels education is the key to eradicating racism from football stadiums and wants to see the very harshest of penalties for those who spew racist abuse at anyone on a matchday.

Wellens said: “We’ve had t-shirts in the past with ‘kick it out’ on and we’ve taken a knee, but I think more needs to be done about educating people in terms of racial abuse.

“I’ve been a player for 20 years and I’ve been a manager for three or four, and I’ve very rarely experienced anything in terms of abuse, but I know people that have.

“You see it on TV, but I think it’s a lot more than taking a knee, I think it’s about educating people and making sure that people are made quite clear how wrong it is.

“I think there should be more severe implications on people who do things like that, especially at football grounds. I think people should be severely punished.”