The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his injury-ravaged side lose another two players within 20 minutes of the start of yesterdays game against Man City, but praised his makeshift side for forcing a draw against a “dangerous” Man City.

Benitez said: “It was a bad start because we tested some players early this morning and Johnson wasn’t confident and couldn’t start, so we had to move Carra to the right.

“Then we got everything right and had another problem and another. We had to move some players and we knew some players were not fully fit because they were not training for a long time.

“It was difficult from the beginning but when we scored the goal I thought maybe we could do it but City were dangerous from counter attacks.

“After conceding two goals the team’s comeback was fantastic. We showed great character. We scored our goal and could have got two at the end. With all the problems we had we were still pushing.

“You cannot be happy when you draw at home but when you have a gameplan and you lose Johnson in the morning, then Agger, then Babel. We had to manage but the reaction of the players was fantastic.

“With the problems we had today, you cannot ask for more from the players.”

He then said that the display gives him confidence that the team will start winning again soon, and is hoping some players will return from injury in time to face Debrecen on Tuesday.

“We won six games in a row and I am sure when we have players back we’ll start winning games in a row.”

“We have to see how Babel and Agger progress for the next game on Tuesday but the positives are that Benayoun played, Riera was available on the bench and Fabio Aurelio came on and played – that’s very good news.

“Hopefully we’ll have Johnson back for Tuesday.”

After 10 games without a win, a confidence-boosting win in Hungary is now an absolute necessity.