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A Championship footballer gave a fan two tickets for his team's game on Saturday after the man commented he was "skint" on Twitter.

Ipswich Town defender Tyrone Mings left tickets at the gate at Portman Road for Tris Monk, adding he "shouldn't miss a game cos u can't afford it".

The pair struck up a conversation on Twitter when Mings tweeted ahead of the club's 1-0 win over Bolton.

Mr Monk, 24, told the 91�ȱ� Mings was "a great example to other players".

He said he often tweeted Ipswich players on match days to strike up a conversation but did not anticipate a reply when he wished Mings good luck.

He tweeted "wish I was there to watch" and used the hashtag #skint, to which Mings replied "can you get to Portman Road?"

He then added: "Left u tickets under the name tris monk. Shouldn't miss a game cos u can't afford it."

'Quite surprising'

Father-of-two Mr Monk, of Haverhill, said: "It was just amazing.

"It was completely out of the blue. When he asked me if I could get to the ground, I thought that it was a bit odd.

"I was sat on the sofa with my wife when he offered me two tickets, I couldn't believe it."

He drove to Ipswich to meet a friend for the game, later telling Mings "players like yourself make ITFC a great club".

"It just goes to show, with modern footballers, some do care about the fans," he said.

"It was quite surprising."

Mr Monk, who works for an insurance company, said he and his wife were saving to move house and he could not afford to spend money on football tickets.

Mings, 20, joined Ipswich Town in December and was an unused substitute for Saturday's game.

He has since been praised on Twitter for his generosity, with his ticket offer to Mr Monk retweeted thousands of times.