Norwich City striker Adam Idah has expressed his disappointment after the Republic Ireland’s stance of taking the knee was booed before their 0-0 draw in Budapest on Tuesday night.

Idah was one of two Irish-born black players in Ireland’s starting XI alongside Gavin Bazuno whilst Chiedozie Ogbene later made history by becoming the first African-born player to win a senior Irish cap.

Ireland took the knee before kick-off but the anti-racism gesture was greeted by a chorus of boos by the Hungarian crowd.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to see the fans in the whole stadium booing us taking the knee,” said Idah, who started up front with Troy Parrott and who came close to scoring his first international goal.

“It’s for a good cause, trying to stop racism, it’s a sign to kick racism out of society, just the reaction was very disappointing, to be honest, we weren’t expecting that.

“We wanted to take the knee, trying to stop racism.”

Ireland boss Stephen Kenny confirmed the Irish set-up had discussed the topic before the friendly and the squad had taken the lead in the decision. Kenny expressed concerns the issue could become worse during the Euros with Hungary one of the host nations.

“It was something we wanted to do,” Kenny told Independent.ie. “The fact it was booed was incomprehensible really. It must be damaging for Hungary with the Euros in Hungary. It’s disappointing and it doesn’t reflect well on Hungary and the Hungarian support.

“Our players wanted to do it, it’s an important stance and I commend them for taking that stance.”

Kenny was pleased with the performance of his side and praised Idah for his display.

“Our players were excellent overall, their commitment and sense of team was very evident,” he added. “It wasn’t a perfect display. In the first half, we weren’t as cohesive as I would have liked us to be, but we defended really well and, obviously, John Egan had his header off the bar.

“In the second half, we were very much a threat on every counter-attack and Adam Idah was very, very dangerous in the second half, as were the other forwards, and we caused a lot of problems.”