England manager Gareth Southgate stands by FA's Dan Ashworth after Mark Sampson scandal

Ashworth has fallen under increased scrutiny in recent weeks following the Eni Aluko affair and subsequent sacking of Sampson after new allegations were raised against the Welshman

Gareth Southgate was appointed as England U21s manager by Dan Ashworth (Getty)

Gareth Southgate has said he is certain that Dan Ashworth, the Football Association’s technical director who has come under increasing scrutiny for his role in the Eni Aluko affair, would always “want to work ethically in the right way”.

Ashworth has come under pressure in recent weeks following the sacking of Mark Sampson, who was removed from his role in charge of the England women’s team after allegations of "inappropriate and unacceptable" behaviour emerged from his time in charge of Bristol Academy.

Sampson's dismissal came amid separate allegations of harassment against him by former Lionesses striker Aluko, who accused him of making a remark with “racial and prejudicial connotations” towards another player.

Ashworth was one of two people to oversee an initial internal inquiry into Aluko’s allegations which ultimately exonerated Sampson, but did so without speaking to key witnesses and without reviewing video evidence of the alleged incident.

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has since described Ashworth’s internal investigation to The Guardian as “not a genuine search for the truth” and “a sham which was not designed to establish the truth but intended to protect Mark Sampson”.

Southgate knows Ashworth well, having been appointed as England U21s manager in 2013 by him before his promotion to take charge of the senior team last year. When asked whether the PFA’s assessment of the affair tallies with the Ashworth he knows, Southgate said: “No, because I think he’s very aware of the diversity of players in all of our teams.

“He’s very aware of the diversity on the coaching side, trying to work on various projects to address that and my view is always very conscious of how we work in that field and would definitely be aware of the sensitivity of that subject, so I don’t believe that he would want to cover something up.”

Southgate has thrown his support behind Ashworth (Getty)

Southgate added: “In terms of Dan, my experience of the way he wants to work, the environment he has created for us coaches at St George’s Park, the successes of the summer highlight what we are trying to do.

“He would always want to work ethically in the right way. I am certain of that and he wouldn’t take his responsibilities lightly.”

Sampson was cleared of Aluko’s allegations for a second time earlier this year following a separate independent investigation by the barrister Katherine Newton but again, key witnesses were not interviewed.

Following increased pressure and public scrutiny, the FA has now re-opened Newton’s independent investigation.

​Sampson was dismissed from his role last week after it emerged that he had “overstepping the professional boundaries between player and coach” during his time at Bristol, prior to taking the England women’s job.

The FA confirmed that a safeguarding investigation into Sampson was carried out in 2015 and concluded that he did not pose a risk.

Southgate firmly denied that he was aware of any such investigation into Sampson.