Darren Bent has called on the footballing bodies to act after England's senior and U21 players were subjected to racial abuse during this week's internationals in Spain.

The Town striker was in action for the U21s in the 1-0 defeat by Spain on Tuesday night and speaking exclusively to Ipswich World, he said: "Something needs to be done by FIFA and UEFA before too long because it's going to get out of hand.

"Abuse is bad enough at any time but racial abuse is awful and I don't know how the players got through the game in the senior match.

Darren - no racial problems in England

"It must have been so tough for them to try and focus on the football when they were getting that amount of stick.

"In the U21s' match, I didn't really hear anything when I was playing. I just got on with the game. I don't listen to the crowd anyway but Glen Johnson and Carlton Cole told me that things were said when they were running towards the goal or going for a throw in which is obviously very disappointing."

Darren admitted the abuse came as a surprise to him, adding: "It was a shock because there are a lot of black players in Spain and it's not a country that I would have associated with racist comments.

"I've been to Spain before and never heard anything like the abuse that went on out there this week.

"Italy have had some trouble for ages but not Spain, it just goes to show that the problem is still there.

"I've been to other countries, like Lithuania and Ukraine and places like that and there aren't many black people out there and you get racial abuse but a big country like Spain with a big football reputation, you just don't expect it."

Darren reckons that the Spanish need to follow England's lead and adds: "We have had the 'kick racism out of football' campaign in this country for years and it seems to be working.

"We don't really have a racial problem in the game in this country now. You get one or two incidents obviously but generally we have moved forward a long way from the bad days.

"Other countries now need to run similar campaigns and hopefully they will move forward as well."

Subscribers to Ipswich World can watch the full interview on Friday morning by clicking here. ALL TOWN FANS can listen to a clip from the interview by clicking here.