Former Reading favourite Yakou Meite has spoken out on a difficult few weeks after receiving online abuse from Cardiff City supporters.

The 28-year-old made 165 appearances for the Royals between 2016 and 2023, scoring nearly half a century of goals during that time.

Upon relegation to League One, Meite departed and joined Championship side Cardiff, but has been less successful in Wales than he was in Berkshire.

Three goals in 63 appearances, and just one so far this season, has seen him pick up his share of anger from supporters.

Sitting 18th in the second tier, four points clear of the relegation zone, Omer Riza's side beat fellow strugglers Derby County on Saturday.

Taking to social media afterwards to discuss the abuse he has suffered, the Ivorian said: "Hi all. Just wanted to speak out after a difficult few weeks where I received and read a lot of comments, abuse in my inbox by our own fans about me and some are definitely out of football.

"I am someone who usually likes to stop at every game, clap the fans and have a good connection with them, but after all the abuse I received this past few weeks I decided to stop doing it and I'm REALLY sorry for those people who are still supporting me and trusting me.

"But honestly at some point, it's difficult to know who is with you or against. We are all human and you guys should also understand this can hurt people and change them.

"I will always give my all for the club until the end, but I will never accept to always be the problem when things are going wrong. We should focus on our target together; I'm not your problem."

Plenty of supporters, of both Reading and Cardiff City, showed Meite support in the comments.

Many Royals fans were calling on the forward to return to the SCL Stadium and, ironically, Meite was back in the town over the weekend, pictured having dinner with former teammate Amadou Mbengue.

Meite's boss with the Bluebirds, Riza, backed his striker on social media himself.

"No matter how he plays or performs at times, one thing from Yak is he always does things fully and whole-heartedly.

"He trains hard and cares about the group that surrounds him. It's more than just football, sometimes it can be hard to manage emotions, I'm a prime example of that."