Jordan Henderson has confirmed Jordan Pickford asked him to apologise to Virgil van Dijk on his behalf for the reckless challenge which forced the Dutchman out of Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
The England goalkeeper was fortunate to avoid a red card after he clattered Liverpool’s defensive linchpin during the early stages of a pulsating Premier League clash at Goodison Park.
Pickford only escaped a red card after it emerged that the VAR official David Coote failed to review the footage after he had finished adjudicating on a tight offside call involving Van Dijk.
The former Southampton centre-half received lengthy treatment on the sidelines and although he eventually rose to his feet unaided, he was forced to sit out the remainder of the contest.
Revealing the details of a post match conversation with his England team-mate, Henderson told BT Sport: ‘Jordan came up and apologised after the game and [told me] to tell Virgil.’
The Liverpool captain looked to have stolen three points at the death when he benefited from Pickford’s error, only to see the goal ruled out for offside.
‘They bend the lines sometimes to make it offside don’t they? [wry smile],’ Henderson added. ‘It feels [cruel]. We deserved to win.
‘We always concentrate on what is important and that is the next game and Ajax.’
