QPR midfielder Joey Barton says footballers are role-models - but insists parents are "idiots" for asking their kids to follow their example.

The controversial midfielder says people should not be so quick to castigate players if and when they make mistakes.

"Are footballers role models? I suppose we are, and we have to be mindful of what we say and what we do, but as an industry we take ourselves far too seriously," Barton said in an interview with the Daily Mirror.

"I see pundits on the box, saying kids will watch Match of the Day and copy what they see, but if you tell your children to live their lives exactly as they see footballers on the telly doing it, you must be a bit of an idiot.

"If you copied Hollyoaks or EastEnders everyone would kill each other over Christmas, because that's what happens on TV, isn't it?"