Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri has said he suffered "disgusting abuse" in a Championship match on Saturday amid an investigation into an alleged racist comment from Preston North End's Milutin Osmajic.
In the 56th minute of the the 0-0 draw at Deepdale -- marking Burnley's 11th straight clean sheet in England's second tier -- Mejbri and Osmajic exchanged words and the Manchester United academy product then promptly ran over to manager Scott Parker and the referee to report a comment, with the game briefly stopped as a result.
A meeting between match officials was held after the final whistle and the English Football Association is looking into the incident.
Preston has said that Osmajic "strongly refuted the claims," though Mejbri posted on social media after the game: "I will not be silent about what happened today.
"I will always call out racism whenever I hear or see it. That is the only way we change as a sport and a society. I am a strong person but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch."
A Preston club statement after the game read: "Preston North End are aware of a complaint that has been made by Hannibal Mejbri and Burnley FC to today's match officials with regards to an allegation of a comment made by Milutin Osmajic during today's Sky Bet Championship fixture at Deepdale.
"Milutin Osmajic has strongly refuted the claims of a racist comment made towards Hannibal Mejbri in a post-match meeting with today's match officials."
The statement continued: "In the meantime, the club feel it is unjust and inappropriate to post social media comments presuming guilt until there is the opportunity for a full investigation to take place.
"Preston North End utterly condemn any incidents of racism or discrimination wherever and whenever they occur, however Milutin Osmajic categorically denies the allegations made against him today."
Burnley said that referee Andrew Kitchen registered the complaint from Mejbri, who joined the club from United last summer.
"The club would like to thank the officials for their professional handling of the incident," their statement read.
"The club will continue to show its complete support to Hannibal and there will be no further comment made until the investigation has been completed."
Parker, meanwhile, was forced to ask the Preston fans to calm down as boos rang out when Mejbri was substituted in the second half.
"I'm not going to go through the detail of what was said but something has been said to Hannibal and he has reported that and the officials have taken down what was reported," Parker told Sky Sports afterwards.
"The boy was hurt at that moment in time and he was emotional. There is no real understanding sometimes of situations. I get the emotion of games and sometimes you need to sit down and have a little think. At that moment everyone is heated, including fans, and I was just trying to say calm down.
"The officials did a brilliant job in terms of what happened. It's difficult in a stadium full of people and what took place, no one heard that. The officials went through a process and did well with that."
Earlier this season, Osmajic was banned for eight games after biting Owen Beck's neck in a game against Blackburn.
Mejbri has made 27 appearances for Burnley since his move from United, where he played 13 times and scored once.