Jamie Carragher apologises over shocking footage of ex-Liverpool star spitting at girl and father

Carragher, 40, says he was goaded by the man on countless occasions as the pair queued in traffic in the aftermath of Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Saturday.

However, the incident made it onto the front pages of Monday morning's national newspapers, with Carragher suspended by his employers Sky Sports pending an investigation. He will not feature on the Monday Night Football clash between Stoke City and Manchester City.

The man in the opposite car claimed to have been having "a bit of banter", although in the footage his daughter appears to be urging him to stop.

Carragher, who spoke to the family on Sunday, said he hoped he could apologise in person, saying it was his "biggest regret was that a young girl who wasn't involved was caught up in the incident".

A statement from Sky said: "Sky takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns Jamie's actions.

"We have made that clear to him in person today and suspended him from his duties. It falls well below the standards we expect of our people."

Carragher had initially told The Mirror: "It was a bit more than, ‘Hiya Jamie, it was 2-1’. It went on for two or three times. I drove away at first and it just continued. I lost my head. I shouldn’t have done it but I was thinking what is a grown man doing, carrying on like that two or three times with his daughter in the car?"

Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville took to social to defend Carragher, saying “I’ve been on TV for three years with him and in my opinion this isolated incident shouldn’t stop us working together.”