The Knight brothers, left to right, Charlie, 10, William, 12 and Elliot, 7, turned up at the signing with replica Southampton shirts, including William’s bearing the number 7 that Matt Le Tissier wore. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0836524)

MATT LE TISSIER yesterday laughed off national media interest about revelations in his autobiography that he took part in an attempted gambling scam.

And fans at his book signing at the Press Shop in Smith Street backed the ex-England and Southampton star completely – saying his minor indiscretion would not change their view of him.

In his book, Taking Le Tiss, the Guernseyman, now a Sky Sports pundit, told how he plotted deliberately to kick the ball into touch at the start of a Premier League match against Wimbledon in 1995.

Le Tissier and his friends placed a spread bet on the time of the first throw-in and he planned to send the ball into touch straight from the kick-off to win the money.

The admission featured in a string of national paper reports this week but Le Tissier said it had been blown out of proportion.

‘I think yesterday [Thursday] was a slow day in the sports offices of newspapers,’ he said. ‘The book had been out for two weeks before this “amazing” revelation came out so I think that shows it must have been a slow news day.’

Le Tissier said he was surprised by how much coverage the failed scam has received.

‘I did not expect it to be talked about on Talk Sport, let’s put it that way,’ he said. ‘It was a mountain out of a molehill if ever there was one.’