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Former Liverpool FC defender Mark Lawrenson insists he did not deliberately pose with The S** newspaper for the BBC and says he wouldn't have gone near a copy if he'd have known.

While filming for Football Focus, Lawrenson was photographed holding a copy of Saturday's edition of the paper, reviled on Merseyside because of its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, and the picture was published by Match of the Day's Twitter account – although the tweet now appears to have been deleted.

The front page headline of The S** carried the headline 'Deal... or no deal?' referring to the political situation with Prime Minister David Cameron and the EU but it is understood that the BBC were trying to make a joke over whether the headline might have been mistaken for a story about Manchester United possibly appointing Jose Mourinho as their next manager.

Lawrenson, 58, who played for Liverpool between 1981-88, and still lives on Merseyside maintains that he is well aware of the sensitivities of being associated with The S** newspaper following the publication's reporting of Hillsborough and says he would never knowingly have picked up a copy to make light of the situation.

He told the ECHO: “I didn't even realise it was The S**. They wanted to show the back page because it related to Jose [Mourinho] and I got given the paper as soon as Dan [Walker] was asking me a question.

“If I'd have known it was The S** I wouldn't have done it. I held it up to show the headline and it was too late to take it down.

“I would not knowingly pose with a copy of The S**. There was just me and Jermaine Jenas there and they handed it to me to show me the headline on the back and the front.

“There was no way I knew it was The S** until it was too late, else I wouldn't have gone near it.”

Read more: Homes all over Britain show Hillsborough support and tell posties to bin The Sun

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