Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce thinks Liverpool have adopted the same physical style which Reds boss Rafael Benitez used to criticise his old club Bolton for.

Allardyce claims the Spaniard sent a DVD of what he saw as Bolton's rough play to referees' chief Keith Hackett, but now sees elements of that same physical approach in Liverpool's play as they bid to salvage their season and qualify for next season's Champions League.

Allardyce, whose Rovers side face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, told the Daily Mirror: "(Benitez) has used all that stuff that he says he doesn't like. It's ironic isn't it?

"They have had to go back to basics and the pretty stuff goes out the window until you start winning matches.

"I watched them play at Manchester City and they got six players booked, so it shows he's brought the physical side out in them.

"If it's a good physical challenge on Sunday, then I'd be more than happy to go down that route, although I don't really have the players here to do that like I did at Bolton."

Allardyce said Benitez was so riled by Bolton's tactics that he compiled a DVD and sent it to referees' chief Hackett.

"He's had a bee in his bonnet for a while. He's entitled to have his opinion as everyone is and it's nice to have someone complaining about you when you are beating them.

"Because he didn't like it, he found an excuse about how we played. Wenger did it, Mourinho did it, they all do it when they get their backside kicked."

Benitez was criticised by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson last season for what he saw as a mark of "disrespect" towards Allardyce, when he appeared to gesture that the game between Blackburn and Liverpool at Anfield was over as a contest when Fernando Torres scored their second goal in a 4-0 win.

Allardyce added: "I didn't get an explanation for that. He's his own man and he does things his own way. I didn't particularly like it."