Defoe: We Showed Great Character

Jermain Defoe has praised Sunderland's battling spirit after the Black Cat's came from two goals down away from home against Liverpool at Anfield.

The striker, who has netted six in his last six matches, noted the importance of picking up at least a point in every game, something that boss Sam Allardyce has been eager for.

"The manager said midweek it starts from the front, time is running out and we've just got to do it now, we've got to get results," he said.

"He's always said if you can't win the game, don't lose, if we can get a point at Anfield, a difficult place to come, we'll take that".

With ten minutes left of the game, the Sunderland faithful couldn't be blamed for thinking the game had been lost, however, a great final flurry from the side, including a inch perfect free-kick from substitute Adam Johnson to bring the game back into reach showed the team's fighting spirit.

"[We showed] great character, to be honest," continued Defoe. "From 2-0 down to come back, there are not many teams who could come here and do that so, unbelievable character.

"It's not easy [to recover], you've got to dig in and keep it going. At one point the lads get their head down a little bit, but unbelievable character from the goalkeeper, the defenders, midfielder and obviously myself working hard for the team. If you work hard you get your rewards".

The result see's Sunderland still in with a chance of survival, but the English striker is hoping that they don't replicate previous years' late and dramatic great escape acts.

"We did it last year, we don't want to wait that long. We don't want to get to the last eight games and be scrapping for results, it's important we get results now. It's not going to be easy but with that character we showed today I think [we can].

"[There's] positives we can take from the game today, even the game against Man City, the second half we were fantastic, so if we keep that going we will be fine."