Newcastle have notified police after midfielder Joe Willock found himself the target of an “appalling” racist online attack on Saturday evening.

The 25-year-old revealed he was abused on Instagram in the wake of a disappointing 2-1 Premier League defeat by Fulham at St James’ Park, the Magpies’ second in succession following Bournemouth’s 4-1 victory on Tyneside two weeks earlier.

A club statement released on Sunday morning read: “Newcastle United strongly condemns the appalling racist abuse received by Joe Willock on Instagram on Saturday evening. There is no room for racism anywhere.

“Joe has been given the club’s full support and we will continue to do all we can to ensure the welfare of our players, staff and supporters.

“The club has reported the abuse to Meta – the owners of Instagram, and urges all social media companies to do more to eradicate this behaviour from their platforms.

“The club has also reported the abuse to the police and will support the strongest possible action against those responsible.”

Northumbria Police said it had received “a number of complaints about a post on social media” and an investigation was ongoing.

A police spokesperson told the PA news agency: “We want to make it clear we condemn all forms of discrimination.”

PA has contacted Meta for comment.

Willock’s team-mate Alexander Isak posted on X on Sunday morning: “We win together, we lose together! Always with you brother @Joewillock. There’s no room for racism.”

The Premier League said it was “appalled” by the abuse, adding on X: “We are working with the club and authorities to support Joe. We will investigate and where possible take action against any individual we are able to identify.”

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out called the abuse of Willock “horrific” and said: “We stand in support of him and every player who has to endure this on a regular basis.”

The midfielder had come off the bench as a 64th-minute replacement for the injured Joelinton as his side looked to rebuild following Raul Jimenez’s equaliser, which had cancelled out Jacob Murphy’s first-half opener.

Willock might have restored his side’s lead but missed his kick as he attempted to convert Isak’s cross and Rodrigo Muniz completed a miserable afternoon for the Magpies when he stabbed home fellow substitute Andreas Pereira’s free-kick to win it for the visitors eight minutes from time.

As preparation for Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg clash with Arsenal, into which Newcastle will take a 2-0 lead, it could hardly have been more frustrating for head coach Eddie Howe, who saw his side struggle to exercise any real control for long periods.

Once again, his substitutions largely failed to make an impact, bringing into ever sharper focus the club’s lack of significant transfer activity in the last three windows with profitability and sustainability rules leaving the club hamstrung in the market.

Indeed, his resources could yet be reduced further – Juventus’ pursuit of Lloyd Kelly is ongoing and Miguel Almiron has already left Tyneside.

However, Howe said: “I don’t think it’s right of me to use today as a statement about that. Ideally, we would have recruited in the previous windows, as I’ve said many times before. But it hasn’t happened.

“I love the squad still and we’ve got to find a way to make this squad win consistently. We’ve done that in this recent run, but these last two home games have been hugely disappointing.”

Howe could welcome striker Callum Wilson back to the squad for the first time since early December following his recovery from a hamstring injury, but has a doubt over Joelinton, who limped off on Saturday with a knee problem.

Meanwhile, Fulham boss Marco Silva left delighted with the impact of his strikers Jimenez and Muniz.

He said: “Raul was great during the minutes he played. There was a big fight from him and of course after came Rodrigo who also fought really hard. It’s a great day from him, to score the goal.

“We’re probably one of the best teams in this league for subs making an impact with goals. It means that for us, it’s not just about the XI, it’s about the whole squad.”