ONE of his own players may have been caught up in the events in Serbia this week, but Tony Mowbray's first concern was that the sport as a whole has been tarnished by what happened in Krusevac.

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele was on the bench as England's Under-21s ran out 1-0 winners over Serbia on Tuesday, completing a 2-0 aggregate victory and thus qualifying for the European Championships in Israel next year.

The winning goal, scored by Connor Wickham, sparked furious scenes from the terraces as Serbs rained missiles down on England's players, including Danny Rose, who had been the target of monkey chants from around the stadium. While Rose's reaction to send a ball into the crown earned him a red card and disciplinary action from UEFA, Mowbray hopes that Europe's governing body come down hard on Serbia.

Mowbray admitted: "I wasn't concerned about Jason. Like every football fan I have my feelings about what went on at the end. It was unacceptable behaviour.

"Regardless of the racism - which you can't sweep under the carpet and I hope is dealt with severely - the violence you saw on the pitch, whether it be the footballers or the staff, this is a game of the people.

"I don't want to be taking my kids to the game if that's what I felt football is going to end like. A team loses and there's a riot. Ferocity in the terraces towards what is going on the pitch.

"It's not the right environment for football. In my mind, someone at UEFA needs to make a stand."

Steele was back at Rockliffe this week - minus a pair of trainers, which he lost during the fracas - but Mowbray knows his number one will not be bearing any ill effects when his side visit Brighton this afternoon.

"Jason? I didn't sit there and say "Christ, I hope Steeley's alright," said Mowbray "He's a big enough lad to look after himself, I'm sure.

"It wasn't very nice to watch. There's a game that England qualify for a championships and the whole world's talking about the aftermath and what appeared to be from the Serbian bench, whether it be players or staff, which was a shame."

Mowbray's injury problems have worsened in the last week. On the back of confirmation that striker Lukas Jutkiewicz will be out for more than a month with a knee injury, Julio Arca has now been ruled out for the rest of the year.

The midfielder has had to undergo surgery on a long-standing toe problem, which rules him out of a return to former club Sunderland in the Capital One Cup in ten days time.