Premier League ref Michael Oliver admits he was wrong not to send off Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his challenge on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk earlier this season.

Van Dijk's season was cut short by the incident, as he was forced to undergo knee surgery.

Oliver is quoted by the Liverpool Echo: "It was a big game, both teams were flying in.

"The assistant had given offside and there is a delay in the flag, as we had this season. Jordan then comes out to Virgil.

"The thought initially was 'it can't be a penalty because it's offside so we need to check the offside first'. I think I said to the VAR 'if it's not offside, I'm going to give a penalty'.

"I have watched it back so many times. I genuinely don't think Pickford has done anything apart from try to spread himself but he did it in the wrong way, as the injury shows.

"We have all, myself included, not thought about the challenge as much as we should have done.

“We could still have given offside and sent Pickford off. What I was surprised about looking at it afterwards was that nothing was expected on-field in terms of a red card. None of the players were asking for that."