Mark Hughes insisted his Manchester City side felt a deep frustration that they were not able to hang on to a winning position against Liverpool.

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."

He added: "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."