Burnley's Andre Gray denies homophobia and asks forgiveness for tweets

A Premier League footballer has apologised for tweets posted from his account and denied he is homophobic.

Burnley player Andre Gray said he wanted to ask for "forgiveness" from anyone offended by the comments, tweeted four years ago, which he described as mistakes.

In a statement on his Twitter account on Saturday the 25-year-old said he had changed in recent years, and is trying to become "a better person".

In a lengthy post Gray, who did not refer to the exact content of the posts, said: "The tweets were posted four years ago when I was a completely different person to the man I am now. I was at a very different point in my life back then - one that I've worked hard to move on from."

He added: "I have a lot of regrets regarding a number of things I've done in the past and realise I have made some big mistakes, none more so than these tweets, but I would like to stress that I've worked incredibly hard to completely transform my life since that time.

"To clarify, I do not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever. I can assure everybody that I am absolutely not homophobic and as said previously I can only apologise and ask for forgiveness to anyone I offended."

The tweets, which are said to have been deleted, were posted before he joined Burnley.

The club released a statement saying it does not condone "discriminatory behaviour" but added "these are social posts from four years ago, and in this time he has completely transformed his life".