The Premier League confirmed on Friday it is in talks with representatives from Twitter over the "discriminatory and hateful conduct" that has led to the abuse of numerous players, including Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Tammy Abraham over recent weeks.

Officials from the EFL and the FA also attended a meeting with bosses from the social media platform to discuss the problem of users aiming racist abuse at footballers.

Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has been among those leading calls for English football's governing bodies to take action to combat racism in the game, and the Premier League indicated that talks with Twitter would continue with the aim of tackling the problem online.

A statement on the Premier League's official website read: "The Premier League, EFL and FA met Twitter today [Friday] with respect to the ongoing concerns surrounding discriminatory and hateful conduct taking place on the platform.

"The meeting was productive and positive, and gave both the football authorities and Twitter an opportunity to examine some of the specific issues around this unacceptable behaviour both online and offline.

"All parties agreed to take these constructive discussions forward."

Manchester United and England defender Harry Maguire previously used the platform to call for an authentication process to be put in place to combat the problem.

After hateful language was directed at Pogba, Maguire posted: "Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it."

Rashford also reacted at the time, saying: "Enough now, this needs to stop. Manchester United is a family.

"Paul Pogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all."