Everton boss Sam Allardyce: 'The referee wasn't consistent'

Everton boss Sam Allardyce has claimed that the referee was 'not consistent' during the club's FA Cup defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's side ran out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from James Milner and Virgil van Dijk, with the opening goal coming from the penalty spot.

Allardyce disagreed with the referee's opinion that Mason Holgate had fouled Adam Lallana - with Klopp acknowledging that his side were lucky to get a penalty - but Allardyce has revealed that he was disappointed with the overall performance of the official.

The 63-year-old told BBC Sport: "We gave everything we could today and in the end we were disappointed we did not take them back to our place. It is a shame after all that effort.

"I didn't think it was a penalty, but there is not much we can do now. For me, I thought some of the fouls they got and bookings we got and fouls we didn't get was very harsh by the referee in terms of consistency. There were similar incidents, similar penalties.

"At the end of the day, we have given everything we could and we tried our very best today."

Everton will now focus their attention on the Premier League, with their next fixture coming away at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, January 13.