The Premier League's latest pretenders to a top four position had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Anfield, having forced their way back into the match and taken the lead.

Martin Skrtel had given Liverpool the lead, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to put City ahead. But within seconds of Ireland's goal, Yossi Benayoun grabbed Liverpool's equaliser.

City boss Hughes felt his side deserved more and said: "We restricted Liverpool to a very few opportunities but the ones they did have, they scored from.

"But we restricted their influential players from having an impact on the game. We were good on the break and carried a real threat in the second period when Carlos Tevez came on.

"We had to chase the game, and Carlos gave us a real energy. We retained possession and got back from one-down to take the lead.

"We had another winning position and let it slip. We were caught straight after we had scored and had several chances to clear the ball before Benayoun put it away.

"My players are disappointed, they had an opportunity to win. Scoring twice and getting a point at Anfield is something you would normally be happy with.

"Maybe we will be come the end of the season, but at the moment it feels like a chance missed."

He added: "Liverpool will be happy with a point, on the day they were not the better team so they should be happy with a draw.

"If you do not make too much of a positive impact on the game you feel happy with a point. I felt we merited more, given our second-half performance.

"But there are signs of quality, and it is only time before we start winning games. Everybody can see that.

"It is a frustration to keep throwing away winning positions, in general play we were the better team.

"But Liverpool still have threats. They have accomplished players and a squad capable of handling injuries, so they cannot be underestimated.

"We were waiting for the chance, but we did not want to go gung-ho at Anfield too soon, that is when you get punished.

"We should have seen the game out once we were in front, but we take confidence from the manner of our play and it is only a matter of time before we start winning."

Liverpool had to overcome a string of injury problems, before and during the match.

Glen Johnson failed a fitness test in the morning on his calf problem, while Liverpool had to re-jig their side twice when Daniel Agger and Ryan Babel went off before the 18th minute mark.

Agger needed five stitches in a head wound and Babel has an ankle injury that could rule him out of the Champions League trip to Hungary to face Debrecen on Tuesday.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, aware of City's top-four aspirations, again maintained: "We will finish in the top four when we get our injured players back."

The Anfield men suffered more problems. Benitez said: "We had a shocking day with injuries. Glen was not happy with his calf and he had been limping a bit in training.

"Then we lose Agger and Babel. We had one problem after another. We had to use players who have not been training with the squad, but we still managed to score first.

"We felt we could hang on, then they scored twice and we had to show great character to hit back at them to get the equaliser. We then had a couple of great chances at the end and could have won the game.

"You cannot be happy with a home draw, but to lose three players from your game plan is very difficult. And of course we had three players on the bench who have been for treatment in Belgrade and had not been training with the team.

"It is not easy to manage, but the reaction of the players was fantastic. You cannot ask for more from players in such a position.

"City have quality. But if we can improve and play at our top level, we will be in the top four."