Henderson hails Liverpool character as they stay in title hunt

Captain Jordan Henderson was delighted with Liverpool's character after they twice came from behind in an absorbing 2-2 draw with Premier League title rivals Manchester City.

The England midfielder was nevertheless disappointed with the Reds' defending as an absorbing draw kept Jurgen Klopp's team one point behind City at the summit, with seven rounds of games remaining.

Liverpool are now winless in their last five Premier League matches against City (three draws, two losses), their joint-longest run without a victory against them along with a five-game run between November 2011 and December 2013.

However, Henderson was keen to stress the importance of remaining in touch with Guardiola's men after Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane cancelled out goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.

"It was an intense game, which we knew it would be," Henderson said. "We knew it would be tough coming here, they're a fantastic team, but we wanted to come here and give everything to try and get the win.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't do that, but at the same time, we didn't lose the game. Of course, we wanted to do better, but it's not the end of the world, we're still in the race. [There are] positives and negatives."

Liverpool were second-best for much of the first half at the Etihad Stadium, twice going behind and seeing the likes of Raheem Sterling and De Bruyne miss chances to extend City's lead.

However, the Reds skipper commended the response to going behind, with Mane's goal levelling the game at 2-2 just 46 seconds after the break.

"I think we started okay, but we were a bit hectic at times, trying to clear it rather than getting it down and trying to play, and we gave them one or two chances early on," Henderson told Sky Sports.

"We knew we were going to come under pressure early on. They're a fantastic team, and we knew they'd come out fast.

"After they scored we settled down, started playing more, and that caused them one or two problems, and we ended up getting the goal from that.

"That was pleasing, how we've come twice from behind. It takes a lot of character to do that here, but we wanted to do better with the [City] goals."

Mane's goal marked the first time Liverpool had scored in the opening minute of the second half in a Premier League game since January 2019 (Mohamed Salah against Crystal Palace), and the first time City have conceded a league goal in the 46th minute since doing so to Norwich City's Damien Francis in November 2004.

After the two teams drew by the same scoreline at Anfield earlier in the campaign, City and Liverpool have drawn both of their Premier League meetings for the first time since doing so in the 2012-13 season, but Henderson refused to be drawn on whether the result helped City more than the Reds.

"We'll have to wait and see [if the draw was better for City], I suppose," he added.

"They don't drop many points, we know that, but for us, we've got to concentrate on ourselves, win as many games as possible, and if they do slip up we've got to be there right behind them.

"It's not the end of the world, we'll stay positive and keep going until the end."