Just the other day, I had the racial stereotyping in sports reporting, with myself, because I thought I probably had done it in the past. Here's how it went.

I was writing a scouting profile of Marcus Thuram, the 22-year-old striker at Borussia Monchengladbach who has been catching the eye of a fair few. He's also World Cup winner Lillian's son. You can see why there is plenty of media attention.

I watched highlights of him beforehand, read a few interviews and pieces, some tactical breakdowns of Monchengladbach. All the usual things you do before a scouting report style piece.

There was plenty about how strong he was, how quick he was, the word "beast" was definitely used - and I remember a @jonathanliew piece about similar reporting about black players. I re-read it, to try to provide myself with some perspective.

The problem was, for all that I tried and tried, I couldn't escape the fact that Marcus Thuram, all 6ft 4in of him, is many of those things. He is strong, he is powerful, he is fast. But...

because I had read and considered the unconscious bias, I looked for other things in his game. Movement, intelligence, work rate, understanding - things white players are often lauded for, disproportionately so.

I ended up writing about loads of different qualities - including Thuram's physical prowess - and I just about felt okay about it. Every time I write about a black athlete adjectivally, I double-take now. Just a check - "do I really mean that? Or is that just a cheap stereotype?"

I don't think I'm racist. But I think I probably have some unconscious bias, because I've grown up in a very white-centric world, in towns and cities where most people are white, and exposed to a media that is similarly white-centric.

And I'm not trying to virtue signal, but maybe just appeal to people like me that it's okay to question yourself, or tweak your methods. It might make you reconsider something you write, or look at someone differently. I think it has made me a better writer. I can only try.