Watford captain troy Deeney has thanked the Premier League for their participation in the Black Lives Matter protests and said there is now a "noticeable determination for change".

The Hornets number nine spoke to Sky Sports about the movement, which he said had been positive, with players replacing their names with 'Black Lives Matter' for the first 12 games of the season.

An aeroplane protesting against the movement was arranged by Burnley supporters during their game against Manchester City, in which an aeroplane flew over the Etihad stadium carrying a 'White Lives Matter' banner.

Burnley quickly distanced themselves from the banner, while captain Ben Mee condemned those who had arranged it.

Deeney said the banner was stupid, but offered his support to Mee and his Burnley teammates who said they were both "embarrassed and ashamed" by the display.

"It's been very good, very positive. What football does is reflects day-to-day society," he said.

"It feels different. If you look at protests, you see diverse groups. That's given me the biggest sense of change. We have to thank the Premier League for giving the players the opportunity to speak and a platform.

"(For Ben Mee) you have nothing but respect. I'm looking forward to catching up with Ben and thanking him in person for the way he handled it. He could very easily have spoken [only] about football.

"He really addressed the issue head on. Myself, and other people, were very pleased to see Ben take a stand. We can all learn from Ben.

"The banner made me chuckle, in the sense of stupidity. The words 'White Lives Matter' was not a racist situation. The context, we all knew what it was for. Nobody that I've ever listened to says all lives don't matter.

"We're just asking for an equal standing. In 2020, I don't think that's an unnatural, or difficult, request to be treated the same as everybody else.

"It's hard (to see a lack of understanding). You're asking them to understand a struggle they have no concept of. People wouldn't understand what it's like to be in a shop and stereotyped, to drive a nice car, police car goes past, 'we're going to be pulled over here'.

"Within the black community, you don't see a pathway. In football, there's no clear step on how to own a club. We're very much pigeonholed."

Throughout the lockdown period Deeney has had an active role in the Players Together campaign, who arranged sizeable donations to NHS charities.

They are now raffling some of the Black Lives Matter shirts worn during the first 12 games of the season to raise money for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Foundation, which supports young people from the BAME community.

"The main part is to raise awareness and impact change," Deeney said. "We've had, for years now, a lot of people talking, but never really gone that extra step and impacted change.

"In light of recent events, you can see there is a real determination for people to help change and see that social injustice is not welcome in 2020."