WYCOMBE WANDERERS CHAIRMAN Rob Couhig has given on-loan midfielder Killian Phillips his full backing and said the Dubliner was entitled to make a respectful stance during recent Remembrance formalities prior to a League One game.

The Republic of Ireland U-21 midfielder, on loan at Wycombe from Crystal Palace, opted not to stand linking arms with his teammates during the playing of the Last Post before an away fixture with Oxford United las month.

Football clubs in Britain have been carrying out various tributes prior to Remembrance Day on 11 November and Couhig revealed that he made a point of speaking with Phillips personally to reiterate the club’s support, insisting that the online vitriol and commentary that followed in UK media was not right.

“He’s a tremendous young man. I did something today that I’ve never done before. I actually went to the changing room before to let him know how much we support him.

“We live in an age, he’s got legitimate issues with some of the things we do as formalities and he’s entitled to live his life. He did it respectfully, he’s going to do it respectfully cause that’s the type of guy he is.

“We live where somebody is at home and they see something out of place in their mind and so they begin this social media campaign that gains its own momentum. They don’t realise what they can do to somebody, who’s young or even old. It hurts,” Couhig added.

“We wanted to make sure that he knew that we are 100 per cent behind him, we believe in him. We believe in all of our players and we believe in their right to have personal beliefs. It’s as simple as that, and to fight for the causes that they believe in.

“We’re always going to be supportive, we may disagree on ultimate causes but we’re going to always support them in their activities to do well.”

– Updated 6.35pm: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Rob Couhig’s surname.