Ex-England star Carlton Palmer claimed former boss Ron Atkinson once helped him cheat drugs test

EX-England footballer Carlton Palmer beat a drugs test by asking a physio to provide his wee sample after getting high on cannabis.

The gangly midfielder, now 56, said former boss Ron Atkinson helped him dodge the rap after he came clean to smoking pot.

Sheffield Wednesday fans used to chant: “We’ve got Carlton Palmer; he smokes marijuana ...”

Asked to explain the song’s origins, he told Wednesday podcast The Owl Sanctuary: “It’s what I used to smoke. I like a spliff.

“I got drug-tested the week before and you normally don’t get drug-tested two games on the trot.

"So we’re playing Crystal Palace — on the Thursday night I’m on the f***ing wacky baccy — and then Ron says, ‘You’re up again’.

“I said, ‘Gaffer, I need a word’. So we had to get the physio to p**s in a bottle and pass it through.”

Palmer, who won 18 England caps under Graham Taylor, said the incident came in the 1989/90 season. He had a five-hour heart op in 2016.

However, Big Ron, now 83, who signed Palmer at three clubs, said he had no recollection of the incident.

He added: “I don’t know anything about it. He was a very good player — much better than he was ever given credit for.”