Cristiano Ronaldo treats BT Sport presenter Jamie Carragher - 'I wasn't happy'

BT Sport presenter Lynsey Hipgrave joked she was 'masked' by Cristiano Ronaldo as he hailed pundits Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Peter Crouch ahead of Manchester United's game against Southampton Saturday afternoon. Ronaldo made headlines earlier this week for refusing to commit to Jamie Carragher in the build-up to United's impressive win over Liverpool after being named as a substitute by Erik ten Hag.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner ignored Carragher's presence on the touchline as he spoke to Roy Keane and Gary Neville five days ago before opting to say hello to Ferdinand, Scholes and Crouch ahead of Saturday's clash with Southampton. However, Ronaldo did not reserve a salute to Hipgrave, who jokingly claimed she was the last person after Carragher to be snubbed by the United man before a match.

"It was me who got cleared this time, which I wasn't too happy about," Hipgrave said.

Ronaldo was also spotted squirting water from a bottle onto Ferdinand's shoes before kick-off at St Mary's Stadium in another lighthearted exchange, although the latter went on to suggest that the United States man's jovial mood might have been a facade to mask his fury at his continued exclusion from Ten Hag's starting squad.

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"He's going to fume, 100%," Ferdinand said. "We've all worked with superstars and we've talked about it before, we've seen players left behind and they don't understand.

"They totally believe in who they are, what they are and what they bring to the table. He won't look at the negatives that people bring up, he'll think, 'I'm bringing goals to the table, I bring a winning mentality, why am I not playing?'.

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"Some people will say that you only think of yourself, and that's selfish, but that's what gets these players to the top."

Ronaldo was selected to start by Ten Hag in United's opening defeats to Brighton and Brentford but was dropped to the bench for the visit to Liverpool on Monday before missing out again for the trip to Southampton. It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will be able to win back his place in the United squad in the near future, with the Portuguese striker still believed to be looking for a way out of Old Trafford before Thursday's transfer deadline.

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