Liverpool player Firmino faces Holgate racism accusation

Neither Sam Allardyce nor Jurgen Klopp were drawn on the incident during an FA Cup derby date at Anfield, but the FA is expected to ask questions

Sam Allardyce and Jurgen Klopp have refused to be drawn on an incident involving Roberto Firmino and Mason Holgate that has seen the Liverpool forward accused of racially abusing the Everton defender.

Firmino and Holgate were involved in an altercation during Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup derby win at Anfield on Friday .
Holgate pushed Firmino, who was shielding the ball over the sideline, into the crowd before the Liverpool forward reacted angrily.

No action was taken by referee Robert Madley at the time, but he did pass a message on to the fourth official and the allegation of racist abuse is expected to be includeed in his match report - which could lead to further investigation by the Football Association (FA).

A Liverpool spokesperson said: "The club and player will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities to ensure the facts are established in a thorough manner if deemed necessary or requested.
"While that process is ongoing we will not be making any further comment."

The team's respective managers were not drawn on the incident, with Allardyce saying he had left it in the hands of director of football Steve Walsh.

"I'm telling you nothing until whatever systems are used to find out exactly what happened and what didn't happen," he said.



"I'm here to talk about football, not about controversial incidents. I only want to talk about football.
"Anything else outside of that that happens has to be dealt with by the authorities."