‘I’m sorry’ – Tottenham mascot who went viral for cheeky Virgil van Dijk comment calls talkSPORT

A Tottenham mascot who went viral on social media has revealed Virgil van Dijk's reaction to his cheeky plea.

Ahead of Spurs' 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win against Liverpool, the match mascots met the players in the tunnel.

They were buzzing with excitement when Van Dijk walked back to the Liverpool dressing room, with one in particular making a request now that the transfer window is open.

"Van Dijk, come to Tottenham! We haven't got any good defenders at the moment!" he said amid Spurs' various injury issues at the back.

The clip quickly went viral online and the witty mascot, Rocco, spoke to talkSPORT after the match after his Dad called in.

"He's in the back of the car and he's got his tail between his legs," Charlie told Jamie O'Hara and Jason Cundy on The Sports Bar.

"He was convinced that he did enough to get Van Dijk to sign for us.

"But about 60 minutes into the game he realised he made a big mistake and he knew that we only need [Radu] Dragusin and Archie Gray to see us through, what a performance."

O'Hara asked if Rocco realised he went viral, and Charlie replied: "He didn't until his phone started popping off after it went on talkSPORT.

"He didn't watch the last ten minutes of the game, he was too busy looking at social media, but he's in the back of the car now."

Rocco then recalled his interaction with Van Dijk but after watching Spurs beat Liverpool, he paid tribute to his side's defenders.

"Right, what's up? So, I just wanted to apologise for what I said earlier," he said.

"I'm sorry for my actions because we've got Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin!"

Rocco was then asked about what Van Dijk said back, but hilariously replied: "I don't really know, but he didn't seem very happy."

Spurs won a hard-fought battle against Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but there were worrying scenes early on.

Rodrigo Bentancur received treatment on the pitch for around eight minutes after he fell awkwardly inside the penalty area after a corner.

He was stretchered off and taken to hospital, then took to social media after to say: "All good, guys! Thank you for the messages!!! Congratulations for the victory boys!!!"

Lucas Bergvall scored the winner for Spurs on 86 minutes with a low finish but Liverpool were left fuming with the goal.

The midfielder escaped a second yellow card for a foul on Kostas Tsimikas and then netted his goal just moments later.

Spurs face Liverpool in the second leg on February 6, with Newcastle leading 2-0 on aggregate against Arsenal in the other Carabao Cup semi-final.