Gary Lineker hits out at "excruciating" Dominic Cummings after Downing Street press conference

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker appeared far from impressed by Dominic Cummings after the Prime Minister's senior adviser defended his actions during lockdown in a press conference from Downing Street on Monday.

Cummings had faced huge criticism after it was found he had driven 260 miles from London to Durham after his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms.

He insisted he did not regret what he had done, however, and said he felt he had acted "reasonably" and within the law.

But Lineker took to social media to hit out at Cummings in a series of tweets which took aim at the 2016 Vote Leave campaign mastermind.

His first tweet read: "Oh dear. By his own account he broke the rules 3 times. Apologising is the least he could do when so many people have made such enormous sacrifices. Just say I'm sorry."

He then continued: "This is excruciating." and "The least impressive performance from a member of the Westminster elite in living memory."

Lineker finished with "Well that went well" along with a bemused face emoji, and finally "Feels like we've got the blind leading the blind in charge."

Lineker was not the only high-profile figure in football to blast Cummings, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville also sticking the knife in.

The Manchester United legend chose to compare Cummings' floundering display in front of the cameras to his own short-lived managerial career.

Neville took over as Valencia manager in December 2015, but he only lasted 28 games in charge before being sacked four months later.

The undoubted lowlight of his time in charge at the Mestalla was a 7-0 loss to  Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, and Neville recalled the painful experience of that game when he tweeted: "The most uncomfortable I’ve seen an Englishman in a press conference since a 7-0 defeat in Barcelona."