The father of the Everton fan given Gaston Ramirez's Southampton shirt has cleared up the story.

There were claims last week that eight-year-old Joel Medwell had actually nicked Ramirez's shirt after he scored the equaliser in the 2-1 defeat.

But Dad Darren explained to the Daily Echo: "What happened was Gaston Ramirez and some other players were warming up and some fans were giving them stick as they do. But my son was giving him the thumbs-up and saying 'hello Gaston'.

"When he came on he scored and ran straight over to Joel, put the shirt into his hand and ran off.

"He gave him the shirt because he must have thought, 'he was giving me the thumbs-up when everyone else was giving me stick'."

The dad-of-three, who regularly attends home games with his son, added: "A Southampton player came over but didn't ask for it and Gaston Ramirez certainly didn't ask for it back. The stewards said to us 'he gave it to you so you keep it'.

"Joel is delighted obviously. No one expected it. It was brilliant getting the shirt. It was just a great day. He's not really bothered about what people are saying. He's just delighted he got the shirt. He knows himself he didn't steal it."