Sam Allardyce Admits Disappointment With Late Everton Misses in Merseyside Derby Draw

Sam Allardyce has rued Everton's late missed chances to earn a first Merseyside derby win in 17 attempts against city rivals Liverpool.

The Everton boss spoke to the club's official media team after the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park and claimed that his players should have walked off the field with all three points.

The Blues had to ride out something of a storm from the Reds in the first half, and could have nicked the victory in the final quarter of the contest if not for two missed gilt-edged opportunities.

Seamus Coleman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin spurned glorious chances to chalk up a raw triumph over Jurgen Klopp's side, and Allardyce couldn't hide his disappointment at the final whistle.

He said: "This game is never about how much possession that the opposition has - it's about what you do in the opposition's box - and that's what brings any excitement to a derby match.

"We've managed to get the fans on the edge of their seats for the last 20 to 25 minutes by committing more, but getting fresh legs on in the form of substitutes and creating better chances in better areas of the pitch.

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"The chances came - one of which was extremely unlucky - and when your luck's in that ball is either nodded in by Cenk (Tosun) or falls to Seamus. Instead it goes between them.

"The other is a bad miss. Dominic would have been absolute hero tomorrow and hopefully he can learn from that. From our point of view in the dressing room, we're all a bit disappointed that we didn't win it."

The 63-year-old did, however, reserve special praise for his backline and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for remaining resilient in the face of Liverpool's attackers to register a clean sheet as they restricted the opposition to only three shots on target.

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Allardyce added: "The other side of today is that we got a clean sheet, which gave us the opportunity to only need one goal to win the game. The quality of defending today cannot be ignored when you nullify this team to only a few opportunities.

"That's what he's like. If he's not England number one now then it won't be long before he is. He is maturing year by year and he's the most important player after your goalscorer."