Brendan Rodgers has defended Luis Suarez after the striker was deemed to have dived to win a free kick during Liverpool’s draw with Sunderland.

The striker recovered from the controversial yellow card in the firs -half to pull his side level against after the break.

Suarez was adjudged to have dived following a John O’Shea tackle and entered the referee’s book for the incident, but replays have since shown that contact on the Reds forward was made.

“I have not seen that [replays],” Rodgers told ESPN. “The only side I know is he is a real good guy, a wonderful football player and a very good man.

“He comes in and works very hard. I have not seen anything [bad]. His finish was outstanding. He always causes problems, he’s had to play in a couple of positions, but I though overall he was outstanding.”

Liverpool found themselves a goal down following an impressive Steven Fletcher strike, but Rodgers is pleased with his club’s strong response from conceding.

“We are disappointed with the goal, we dominated the first half and then conceded the first goal against the run of play. But our reaction, we upped the tempo; the speed of passing and movement was much better and our aggression was much better. It was the least we deserved.

“We will take a point, although we are disappointed not to take all three. It bodes well for us going forward.”