Uefa is set to investigate allegations of racist abuse that marred England Under-21’s win over Serbia.

Serbian fans verbally abused England’s Nedum Onuoha during the first half and Justin Hoyte was later targeted in the tunnel by Serbian players.

“We have a policy of zero tolerance for racism,” Uefa spokesman William Gaillard told BBC Five Live Sport.

“Any incident of racism is completely unacceptable.

“We always do carry out an investigation whenever there is an incident because we want things to be clear.

“We will be receiving the match delegate’s report and as soon as we have it, or if also we have some independent reports telling us something happened, we will investigate.

“We will, in the next few days, look into the matter and as soon as we have some evidence we will react and the disciplinary body will be given the evidence.”

England’s 2-0 win earned a place in the European Championship semi-finals, but the win was overshadowed by the treatment of Onuoha.

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce said the player would not be intimidated by the abuse.

“He’s an outstanding young man, not just as a footballer,” said Pearce, who coached Onuoha at Manchester City.

“I’ve got that first-hand knowledge of him and he comes from a great family. He’s a credit to the English nation.

“He’s such a strong character, that’s the case with most of our players. I told them that is what is going to happen at international level.

“It’s difficult to keep restraint under provocation. You’ve got to learn that in football.”

Serbia coach Miroslav Djukic criticised his country’s fans but also hit out at England for the way in which England refused to stop playing while a Serbian defender lay injured on the pitch.

“Racism is definitely a bad thing,” he said. “I did not see or hear what was happening as I was concentrating on the game.

“In my career I played against players from all nations and these things are bad but I also have never seen a player who is hurt and the opposition carry on to score a goal.

“It was unfair from England players, who are meant to be gentlemen. Tonight they were not gentlemen.

“Everything started from the second goal when they did not have respect for a player who was on the floor.”