The Football Association gave Roy Hodgson their full backing on Thursday after the England manager was forced to apologise for a joke he made about a “space monkey” that was designed to prompt his players to pass the ball to the in-form Andros Townsend.

Hodgson made the quip at half-time during Tuesday’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Poland.

The incident was leaked to the media from the dressing room and the use of the word “monkey” sparked a flurry of responses from anti-racism campaigners.

Chairman of anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out Lord Ouseley has called on the FA to investigate, though it appears unlikely that Hodgson, who has apologised and who insists the gag was purely innocent and had no racist connotations, is unlikely to face any punishment.

FA chairman Greg Dyke said: “Roy Hodgson is a man of the highest integrity, an honourable man who is doing a great job with the England team. He has and deserves the full support of The Football Association.

“He has fully explained to us what he said and the point he was making to the players in the dressing room at half-time on Tuesday night.

“He has also explained the context in which he made his remarks ... importantly, he has apologised for any unintended offence that may have been taken.”

Townsend (left), who was making only his second appearance for England, insisted he was not offended and could not understand why the story had generated so much coverage. The Tottenham player said on Twitter: “I don’t know what all this fuss is about. No offence was meant and none was taken! It’s not even news worthy!”

The joke is one that became popular in US space agency NASA in the 1960s and 1970s and culminates in the organisation saying to a lead astronaut: “Don’t touch anything — just feed the monkey.”

Former England striker Stan Collymore said the row undermined efforts to tackle racism in football.

He tweeted: “Demeans every anti racism campaigner by having cheap pop at RH who said NOTHING WRONG. Makes campaigners seem over PC & petty. They’re not.”