England's men's national football team will continue to take the knee during the coming UEFA European Championship despite believing that the move will draw an "adverse reaction" from fans, confirmed the team's manager Gareth Southgate.

"I think we have to accept there could be elements of the crowd that boo," said Southgate at a news conference on Saturday. "That would be hugely disappointing for us but we are prepared to go through that so whatever happens we are adamant that's the stance we are going to take throughout the tournament. If it happens in future matches, we won't be discussing it after because we don't want to give oxygen to those people."

Four days ago, England beat Austria 1-0 in friendly. Their players took the knee before the game while many of the 7,000 spectators in the stadium booed them for the gesture.

"The only reason I called the meeting was that I want to be able to represent the players correctly when I speak about it and I was concerned that what happened could affect young players in particular when it happened immediately before the kick-off," said Southgate.

"If we can affect only a handful of people then we will have made the world better for others. I think we'll affect more than a handful of people and for that reason it is worth us continuing," added the national team manager.

The team will go back to Middlesbrough and play their last warm-up game against Romania at Riverside Stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool's Jordan Henderson who suffered a groin injury, is likely to appear in this game. Manchester United's Harry Maguire is also expected to recover from ankle injury and make for the opener game against Croatia in Group D on June 13.

"Our medical team are pleased with Harry's progress and particularly over the last couple of days but all of the guidance is that he should be available and it is a case of when he can slot back into training with the group and how quickly we can progress him," said Southgate.

England are also facing Scotland and Czech Republic in Group D games at home. If they make the semifinals and the final, the three lions squad will also be able to compete for the top honor at home.