West Brom confirm Jake Livermore was subjected to sick taunts over death of his son before confronting a West Ham fan at the London Stadium

WEST BROM have confirmed that Jake Livermore confronted a West Ham supporter in the stands after being subjected to abuse about the death of his infant son.

The Baggies midfielder, 28, shoved a fan and a steward in ugly scenes at the London Stadium last night.

Video footage emerged which shows Livermore involved in a confrontation as he was being substituted in the 64th minute.

West Brom released a statement on Wednesday afternoon to confirm the disgusting comments made to the England international.

It read: “In the light of intense media speculation, West Bromwich Albion would like to clarify an incident involving our player Jake Livermore in last night’s Premier League game at West Ham.

“Following his substitution in the second half, Jake was subjected to general abuse from home supporters which he shrugged off.

“However, he acknowledges that he moved to confront one spectator who chose to make a comment about the death of his infant son.

“The club would like to think that all right-minded football supporters could understand this reaction which did not result in any physical exchanges before Jake was led away to our dressing room.

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“Jake is an outstanding young individual who has the total support of everyone at the club and he has made it clear he considers this statement to be an end to an unhappy incident.

“Albion were very appreciative of the swift response by the officials of West Ham in dealing with this matter and are more than happy to leave any further action they deem appropriate in their hands.

“The club has responded to an FA request to offer our observations of the incident and will not be making any further comment.”

West Ham have identified a fan involved and have called them to the club for a meeting today, with the individual facing a ban if the allegations are found to be true.

Livermore’s son died in 2013 when his partner went into labour, sending the former Hull midfielder into a downward spiral that led to him facing a two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine.

He escaped a ban from the FA, who cited the “devastating effect” it had on a player whose “cognitive functions and judgement were severely impaired” on the occasion he took the drug.

The seven-cap England midfielder has previously spoken of the agony he suffered over Jake Junior’s death.

In 2016, he told : “The way in which (his death) happened made it difficult to fight my own demons.

“If you lose a child in God’s hands it is completely different. To find out why he had died, that was too much for my head and my heart to take.

“That pain and hurt, it makes you do desperate things. I wasn’t thinking of the consequences.

“I was broken. Most people out there will have a son, a nephew, a little brother.

“So for me, it was a relief. The drugs were irrelevant. It could have been drugs, a gun, a car crash or whatever, the self-destruct button was the problem.”