West Ham star Jarrod Bowen helps young mascot by wearing headphones    

Jarrod Bowen helped one young fan’s dreams come true by wearing matching ear defenders as he walked out for West Ham’s match against Liverpool.

The winger and the mascot alongside him both wore noise-cancelling headphones as the teams emerged at the London Stadium ahead of Wednesday night’s Premier League match.

Earlier this season, former Aston Villa striker Danny Ings – now a West Ham player – did similar as a gesture of support to mascot Riley Regan, 9, who has autism and struggles with loud noises.

The young Villa fan had worried people would laugh at him for wearing the headphones, so Ings also wore a pair so he wasn’t alone.

It came as the subject of club treatment of mascots is under the spotlight after Arsenal players were criticised for ignoring a young girl as they signed her shirt. 

The pair walked from the London Stadium tunnel and out onto the pitch through the bubbles

The West Ham players and mascots line up ahead of their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool 

Danny Ings, when at Aston Villa earlier this season, wore headphones as a gesture of support to nine-year-old Riley Regan, who has autism and is frightened of loud noises 

Bowen guided the young Hammers fan from the tunnel out onto the pitch, through the traditional blowing bubbles ahead of kick-off. 

But it wasn’t to be West Ham’s night as they lost 2-1 to Liverpool. They took the lead 12 minutes in through Lucas Paqueta, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise just a few minutes later.

Bowen saw a goal early in the second-half disallowed for an offside and Joel Matip netted Liverpool’s winner on 67 minutes.

A video earlier this month showed Arsenal players and manager Mikel Arteta filing past eight-year-old Olivia Murray and signing her replica top, but apparently failing to acknowledge the youngster as she gazed at them in admiration.

One of the stars was Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, picked out by Olivia as her favourite player in the matchday programme, who approached her with his earphones in before briskly signing the shirt and walking away.

But after criticism from celebrities including Nick Knowles, Laura Woods and Piers Morgan, Olivia’s father has leapt to the players’ defence – insisting the footage was just a ‘small window’ on her day. He also shared a photo of her holding Odegaard’s hand. 

‘My daughter had a lovely time as Mascot for @Arsenal,’ Mr Murray tweeted. ‘There was only a small window to meet the players and she enjoyed it very much. Odegaard is her favourite player so to hold his hand onto the pitch was very special.’

Manager David Moyes was left fuming after West Ham were denied a late penalty when Thiago’s arm hit the ball as he challenged Ings in the box.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard appears to ignore a young mascot in footage shared by the club at the weekend

The Gunners have been heavily criticised on social media for appearing to ignore the girl

Arsenal fan Piers Morgan was one of many who took to Twitter to slam the club over the video

However, Olivia’s father has since leapt to the players’ defence, insisting the footage was just a ‘small window’ on her day – which ended in a 2-2 draw. He also shared a photo of her holding Odegaard’s hand

The defeat means West Ham can’t escape the relegation battle – they are five points above the bottom three but they still retain a game in hand on some of the teams below them.

The Irons are also into the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League and are set to face AZ Alkmaar over two legs next month.

Bowen said on the game: ‘We knew they’d have a lot of the ball, they’re a good team, there’s no denying that with the way they play. There were times when we had to suffer without the ball and there were times when we had to put the pressure on.

‘I think we got the balance right but the goals are just disappointing on our behalf.

‘I think the last few weeks we’ve been at it to the level we expect of ourselves. I thought it was even tonight, there were times when we looked really dangerous.’

Bowen won lots of praise on Twitter for his gesture of support for the young mascot

On the penalty decision, he added: ‘One day you get them, one day you don’t. It was more he lunged in and the ball hit his trailing arm, so I thought it was going to get given.

‘Tonight his arm was out and the ball hit his arm. It might look soft but if you’re going off the rules and giving penalties to them, you have to be consistent. We didn’t get it and it’s disappointing.’