Eni Aluko 'disappointed and surprised' by the lack of support she has received from England team-mates
Aluko has spoken to her international team-mates at her club side Chelsea but says beyond that, she has heard very little
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Your support makes all the difference.Eni Aluko is "disappointed and surprised" by the lack of support she has received from her England team-mates over her allegations against former Lionesses manager Mark Sampson.
Aluko said Sampson had made a racially discriminatory remark to her in November 2014, something which was eventually found proven after three separate inquiries. He was also found to have used discriminatory language towards another England player, Drew Spence, although he was sacked in September this year over a separate safeguarding matter.
Aluko has spoken to her international team-mates at her club side Chelsea but says beyond that, she has heard very little.
And she questioned whether the togetherness the Lionesses squad speak about is real or "just a hashtag on Twitter".
"I've had a lot of support from other countries: Norway, Sweden, France, particularly the United States girls," Aluko told BBC Sport.
"In their case they have Megan Rapinoe taking a knee in protest at the treatment of black people in America, while others sing the national anthem.
"That was discussed among the team, and while some players didn't agree with her stance, they still respected it. That's what we need to learn from. I should not be sat here saying I haven't had any communication from my team-mates, bar the Chelsea girls.
"We need to look at other examples and ask why this isn't happening with a team ranked third in the world. Is the togetherness we keep banging on about actually being put into action or is it just a hashtag on Twitter?
"Unless we do that, I don't think we can achieve what we really want to."
Aluko also stated in the interview that returning to England duty under new interim boss Mo Marley was "not a priority" and said she "didn't need" an apology from Sampson over the remarks, which he has always denied making.
Aluko apologised herself for comments on social media criticising England players for rushing to Sampson to celebrate their opening goal in a World Cup qualifier against Russia in September, a day before he was sacked.
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