Football fans were concerned on Sunday evening when Wales midfielder Daniel James was allowed to play on despite being ‘knocked out cold’ against Croatia.

The 21-year-old, who joined Manchester United from Swansea City in the summer, re-entered the field of play just minutes after he was left flat on his back - arms and legs flayed - following a heavy mid-air collision with Domagoj Vida.

That Wales’ medical staff allowed James to play on angered many people on social media, including the former Tottenham and England midfielder Ryan Mason, whose career was prematurely ended after suffering a fractured skull in a match against Chelsea.

Mason tweeted: "Daniel James was just knocked out unconscious! Yet three minutes later he has been allowed back onto the pitch."

Others were similarly perplexed and angered that James was allowed to play on so soon after sustaining what appeared to be a serious head injury.

Watch the incident here…

You can understand why so many people were concerned about James; however, Wales boss Ryan Giggs sensationally claimed after the match that his player was ‘acting’ during the incident.

"Daniel James went down and stayed down with a bit of acting,” the Man Utd legend was quoted as saying by The Sun.

"But the medical staff went over, he was compos mentis and we did all the checks at half-time and he was fine."

Very honest from Giggs - although whether it was wise to admit that in public is debatable.

For starters, James doesn’t come out of the situation very well. The youngster has already been involved in a couple of diving incidents this season and Giggs’ revelation won’t help his reputation.

On the other hand, Giggs was perhaps defending himself and his backroom staff, who allowed James to play on because they knew he hadn’t been knocked out.

James himself also admitted that he wasn’t KO’d against Croatia.

"[I’m] fine. He caught me in the head,” he told Sky Sports following Wales’ 1-1 draw. "I didn’t get knocked out."