Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been finding it difficult to get into the starting lineup for Ipswich of late, and according to reports in The Sun, it may actually be down to his mother. 

Back in March, Maitland-Niles was due to attend an event for the launch of the new England U21 kit, but Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy asked that he give it a miss in order to prepare for a game against Blackburn. 

That was apparently not a popular decision with the player's mother, who decided to leave an irate voicemail on McCarthy's phone, the content of which was "so abusive and so threatening that the Ipswich boss decided to drop Maitland-Niles for the clash with Blackburn on March 15".

Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer

Maitland-Niles has not featured for McCarthy's Ipswich side since that date, something which The Sun claim is down to the voicemail left by his mother. They also quote a source who stated that McCarthy had other members of staff at the club listen to the message "to make sure I'm not going mad". 

According to The Daily Mail, this isn't the first time that Maitland-Niles' mother has been making headlines, after it was claimed she also had a similarly frank exchange of views with Dick Law, one of the club's chief negotiators.

Via The Sun