'It's a great point!'

Sam Allardyce said his West Ham United side had been unfortunate not end the club's 50-year winless run at Liverpool on Sunday.

The Hammers produced a resilient display to earn a deserved goalless draw at Anfield and, having stifled Brendan Rodgers' team with their organisation, concentration and tenacity, came within inches of stealing all three points.

James Collins and the returning James Tomkins led the way with outstanding displays in central defence, but all eleven starters and three substitutes played their part.

Indeed, only a dramatic goal-line clearance from Reds midfielder Lucas denied one of those Hammers substitutes, Jack Collison, a late headed winner.

"It should have been our first win at Anfield in 50 years, shouldn't it?" said manager Sam Allardyce. "As delighted as we are for the West Ham fans travelling back home thinking 'What a great point that is' - and it is a great point - the disappointing thing is that we know we should have won it with the chances we had.

"Because the chances were clear-cut compared to Liverpool's chances, that's why I'm disappointed we didn't win. That said, I'm delighted with our outstanding performance, particularly the defenders keeping Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard and all those people quiet.

"We didn't given them opportunities to score and that's why it was a really good performance."

West Ham's point was built on a game-plan that saw them adopt a compact formation that afforded Rodgers' pass-first team little space either in front or behind the Hammers' back four.

With Gary O'Neil and Mohamed Diame providing a shield in front of the defence, wingers Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te providing an outlet and Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole holding the ball up whenever possible, the visitors frustrated Liverpool and their supporters.

When the Reds did get in behind, it was largely through fortunate ricochets, while Jarvis caused Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher huge problems with his pace and ability to cross with both feet.

In the first half, both Cole and Nolan headed deliveries from the Barclays Premier League's top crosser narrowly off-target, while another direct run after the break saw a goalbound Matt Taylor shot blocked.

"I always said Liverpool will throw players forward - even their full-backs who they almost use as wingers. So, if you win the ball back and don't waste it and pass it correctly, you can get from one end of the pitch to the other pretty quickly and be running at Liverpool's back two defenders Carragher and [Daniel] Agger.

"We did that several times and we had two headers at goal in the first half and Carlton Cole had the ball passed to him in their box and it ended up being blocked by a defender. That was a great, great chance for us.

"We had the header at the end from Jack Collison, which was a great header that was cleared off the line, and just before that James Tomkins was kicked in the back of the leg by Jose Enrique but the ref didn't give us the penalty.

"Like I said, no matter how much possession Liverpool had, we created better chances than them and I've got to be satisfied, which I am."

Big Sam was particularly delighted with the way his defenders dealt with the threat of Uruguay forward Suarez, who has terrorised defenders with his movement and skill all season long.

"It was terrific defending against one of the trickiest players in the Barclays Premier League and one of the trickiest players in the world - and he has proven that with his goal record this season.

"They had a couple of shots that flashed wide of the post but I thought the defending from James Collins and James Tomkins was outstanding ."

While his side are 12th in the table ahead of next Saturday's trip to eleventh-place Southampton - a side they pulled level with on 37 points following Sunday's draw - Big Sam says his team need to keep producing the goods and picking up positive results over the closing six weeks of the season.

A win at St Mary's, of course, would take West Ham to 40 points - the commonly-considered benchmark for Barclays Premier League safety.

"It's a big point. At the end of the day, the magic 40 points is what we are looking for because some of the teams below us have put unusual winning runs together - Wigan have been doing it for the last two or three years and they have put three wins together in four games.

"Southampton have put three wins together, too, which is unusual this time of year, so this was a big point for us."