'That was a step in the right direction'
Liverpool vice-captain Jordan Henderson echoed the belief of his manager and skipper that the Reds' performance in drawing 1-1 with city rivals Everton on Saturday showed reasons for positivity moving forward.
The hosts created a range of promising opportunities in the 223rd edition of the Merseyside derby, summoning the kind of intense pressing, speedy counter-attacks and direct approach that received rich reward last season.
An excellent free-kick by Steven Gerrard had reflected their edge in the scoreline on 65 minutes and the advantage could have been immediately doubled when Mario Balotelli directed against the crossbar from close range within moments.
That the margin remained at one goal proved costly. For, into stoppage time at Anfield, Blues defender Phil Jagielka latched onto a loose ball 25 yards out and arrowed an unstoppable finish into the Kop end top corner.
Liverpool were naturally stunned as what seemed to be a confidence-raising victory was snatched away - but Henderson joined the chorus of voices taking the noticeable pluses from a display that deserved more.
"I thought we dominated the game and deserved to win," the midfielder told Liverpoolfc.com. "That's football - you're going to get blows like that at times. You've just got to keep going and it's about how you react in the next game.
"The performance level was much better, back to where we expect it to be, with more intensity and more pressure on the ball.
"We were getting the ball back quicker and were more fluent going forward. Performance-wise, we can be very pleased. But we're really disappointed we haven't come away with the three points.
"It will take time to get back to where we want to be, but today was definitely a step in the right direction performance-wise. From start to finish I felt the lads gave everything they had and deserved to win."
Adam Lallana was selected as the Reds' Man of the Match by supporters in our Twitter poll, acknowledgement for 90 minutes of constant harassment for the Everton backline and his endeavour and skill in attack.
The No.20 is steadily nearing full fitness after a summer heavily disrupted by an unfortunate injury; Henderson, like all those with Liverpool affiliation, was hugely impressed with what he saw of the Englishman on Saturday.
He said: "I thought Adam was brilliant. He worked his socks off for the 90 minutes, got into good spaces and he is a brilliant footballer.
"I thought he was outstanding. He looks match fit again so hopefully he can stay in good shape and kick on now."