Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has bemoaned his side's luck after they ended 2015 with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool this evening.

Christian Benteke scored the only goal of the game in the first minute of the second half to hand Liverpool the points, condemning Sunderland to a fifth straight defeat in the process.

However, Allardyce believes that his side were unfortunate to come away from the game with nothing and hinted at a busy January transfer window to help the Black Cats escape the relegation mire.

"It was the luckiest touch of Adam Lallana, straight to Christian Benteke's path. He hit it into the floor and it took a bounce over Vito Mannone's legs. A couple of slices of luck but when you are down and out things go against you," Allardyce told BBC Sport.

"Some encouragement, seeing the lads battling and fighting for themselves and trying to get a win or at least a point but a bit of misfortune just after half time took it away from us. I thought the lads tried their best and you can't ask for more than that.

"We need to try and strengthen the squad. That work has already started but it is very, very difficult. Hopefully we will be successful sooner rather than later in January."

Sunderland end the year 19th in the table, seven points from safety ahead of a relegation clash with Aston Villa on Saturday.