LONDON (AFP) - Huddersfield Town have condemned the racist abuse of midfielder Philip Billing, with the English Premier League strugglers saying they have reported the incident to the police.

The 22-year-old received online racial abuse late on Tuesday (March 12) from someone claiming to be one of the Yorkshire club's fans.

"We're aware of the racist message sent to Philip Billing over social media on Tuesday evening and have subsequently referred the case to West Yorkshire Police," said a Huddersfield statement issued on Wednesday.

"Huddersfield Town does not tolerate abuse of any kind and has a zero-tolerance stance towards any form of discrimination.

"We will give our full cooperation to the police to deal with this matter in the strongest possible way."

Denmark Under-21 international Billing responded by retweeting the message from the fan with a thumbs down emoji.

The midfielder has been one of the Terriers' better players this season but went off at half-time during last Saturday's home defeat by Bournemouth, amid speculation linking him with a move to another Premier League club at the end of the season.

The midfielder has produced several outstanding displays for the Terriers this season.

Town manager Jan Siewert said after the match he was unsure whether Billing was carrying an injury or not.

Saturday's loss saw bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield slump to a 15th defeat in 17 league games and they are 16 points from safety with eight matches remaining.