The sister of disgraced footballer Adam Johnson has urged people to back his legal appeal by using a photo of him and his baby daughter as their Facebook profile picture.

Faye Johnson posted the black and white image on her page with a heading Justice For Johnson in support of the ex-England and Sunderland player who was convicted of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

Under the photo was written: “Change your profile pic to support Adam Johnson’s appeal.

“Facebook removed our group but we will not stop publicising our support #TeamAJ”.

The separate appeal page was unavailable to view on Monday but it was back up and running the following day.

It was understood to have been removed after people unhappy with some of the unpleasant comments about Johnson’s teenage victim reported it to Facebook.

But it was accessible again on Tuesday and had received more than 2,000 “likes”.

Johnson was told that prison was “almost inevitable” after he was convicted of sexual activity with a child. He was cleared of a similar offence.

Before his trial at Bradford Crown Court he admitted grooming and kissing the teenage fan in his car.