James McClean hits back at Twitter trolls after vile Covid-19 messages

James McClean has hit back at vile Twitter trolls who hope he dies of Covid-19.

The Republic of Ireland and Stoke City midfielder is currently self-isolating after a positive coronavirus test while on international duty this week.

After the news broke, the 31-year-old was sent messages on social media that read ‘McClean has got corona… I hope he f**king dies!’

Republic of Ireland midfielder James McClean has responded to social media trolls who hoped he died of Covid-19 following his positive test this week

McClean tested positive for Covid-19 after playing for Ireland against Wales on Sunday night

McClean posted news of his positive Covid-19 test on his Instagram account on Tuesday

The player responded in a now deleted post on his Instagram account with a screenshot of the abusive message and the words ‘Sorry to dissapoint [sic] ya mutants but…’

The next image was one of him working out in his home gym wearing an Ireland shirt and flexing his muscles with the words ‘…Am more than fine.’

McClean and Tottenham Hotspur’s Matt Doherty are both isolating for 10 days in line with UK government guidance after a positive test following Sunday’s 1-0 UEFA Nations League defeat to Wales in Cardiff.

They will miss Wednesday night’s concluding Nations League fixture at home to Bulgaria in Dublin, in which Ireland must avoid defeat to stay in League B of the competition.

McClean will miss one match for Ireland two for Stoke City as a result of his 10 days’ isolation

The 31-year-old midfielder tackles Gareth Bale of Wales during Sunday’s 1-0 defeat in Cardiff

McClean will also miss Stoke’s Championship fixtures against Huddersfield Town on Saturday and Norwich City next Tuesday.

It’s far from the first time Derry-born McClean has been caught up in social media controversy.

He was fined two weeks’ wages by Stoke and deleted his Instagram account back in March after posting a picture showing him wearing a black balaclava while teaching his children what he described as a ‘history lesson.’

James McClean posted his image of himself wearing a black balaclava in front of his children

The post triggered a backlash with the balaclava carrying clear connotations to the Irish Republican Army [IRA].

McClean said at the time: ‘I never wanted to cause any offence but I now realise that I did so and for that I apologise unreservedly. I have spoken to the club and will be deleting my Instagram account.’

McClean has repeatedly been the subject of alleged sectarian chanting and has also been targeted for his decision not to wear a poppy on his shirt to mark Remembrance Sunday.

McClean has been targeted with sectarian abuse in the past for refusing to wear the poppy

Explaining his decision back in 2014, McClean, then a Wigan Athletic player, said in an open letter to club chairman Dave Whelan on the club’s website: ‘For people from the North of Ireland such as myself, and specifically those in Derry, scene of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, the poppy has come to mean something very different.

‘Please understand, Mr Whelan, that when you come from Creggan like myself or the Bogside, Brandywell or the majority of places in Derry, every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland’s history – even if like me you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who we are, ingrained into us from birth.

‘Mr Whelan, for me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles – and Bloody Sunday especially – as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII. It would be seen as an act of disrespect to those people; to my people.’