Sam Allardyce hails Sunderland never-say-die attitude

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has praised his side's never-say-die attitude after they came from two goals down to rescue a point against Liverpool this afternoon.

The Black Cats looked to be on course for their 16th league defeat of the season after Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana had given Liverpool the lead, but goals from Adam Johnson and Jermain Defoe in the final 10 minutes sealed an unlikely comeback.

Allardyce acknowledged that it was a "precious point" for his side in the battle against relegation, but also admitted that they cannot afford to find themselves in that position too often.

"You think your day is over when you are 0-2 down at Anfield. But we fought back with two quality goals and got a point by not giving up. It was never-say-die until the end. When we went two down it looked like the fear had left us and we played better with the ball," Allardyce is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"We created chances and it was the quality of goals that got us a point. We were disappointed to go 1-0 down and [Patrick] van Aanholt had a chance at 1-0 and the way he has been playing we thought he would score. Then 2-0 was a kick in the you know wheres. But the free kick opened up Liverpool and then Defoe had his chance.

"We won't get goals back like that every game but today it was a precious point for us. For me the players have to listen and learn a bit more in terms of how to control a game and then punish the opponents when we have a chance."

The draw leaves Sunderland still four points from safety in the Premier League table.