Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce played down a clash between Damien Delaney and a fan during defeat to Sunderland.

The former West Ham and Newcastle manager was also asked if he had substituted Delaney, who he replaced with Andros Townsend for the second half, as a result of the defender being confronted by an angry supporter at half-time.

"No, not really, no," he responded. "We played a very good game with that system and team at Bournemouth, so I had to change the system to try and help the players get better.

"At least in the second half we showed a bit of fighting spirit, but Sunderland had been gifted four goals and could just sit back and frustrate us."