Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has suggested that the Liverpool fans' protest over rising tickets prices during today's clash between the two sides affected the home players at Anfield.

Thousands of fans left the ground in the 77th minute this afternoon with Liverpool leading 2-0, and just five minutes later Sunderland began their comeback in front of a sparsely-populated Kop end.

Goals from Adam Johnson and Jermain Defoe saw the Black Cats rescue a point on Merseyside, and Allardyce believes that the mass walkout must have affected the Liverpool players.

"I was concentrating on my team, but the crowd thing has an effect on every player," he told reporters.

"When it is bad it has an effect, when it is good it lifts them. It is certainly something the players have to deal with.

"Liverpool got a bit nervous when we scored, but the quality of the second goal from Defoe, I don't think anyone could stop that. A bit of quality can always change a game."

The result means that Sunderland remain 19th in the Premier League table, four points from safety.