Huth compounds Benitez's misery

Stoke City 1 Liverpool 1: Robert Huth's last-minute equaliser denied Liverpool a morale-boosting victory as he earned his side…

Stoke City 1 Liverpool 1:Robert Huth's last-minute equaliser denied Liverpool a morale-boosting victory as he earned his side a valuable point. Huth tapped in at the back post to complete a miserable week for Liverpool

It had looked as though Sotiris Kyrgiakos's scrappy goal would be enough for a Liverpool win.

Greek defender Kyrgiakos toe-poked his side in front in the 58th minute of a forgettable game at the Britannia Stadium.

Dirk Kuyt squandered a glorious late chance to snatch maximum points for Liverpool when he headed a cross against the post with the goal gaping.

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Liverpool, knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship Reading on Wednesday, remain in seventh place, four points outside the top four, while Stoke are 10th.

Later on Saturday leaders Chelsea host Sunderland while second-placed Manchester United are at home to Burnley.

Kuyt admitted afterwards that the draw felt like a defeat as the pressure continues to build on under-fire manager Rafael Benitez.

“Yes, of course it feels like a defeat,” Kuyt said. “We aren’t playing the best football at the moment, but I thought we fought really hard for this result, and to concede in the last minute and even miss a great chance in the last minute is unbelievable.”

The Liverpool players, who were denied a first-half penalty for Danny Higginbotham’s challenge on Lucas Leiva, were clearly angry in the tunnel after the final whistle.

Asked what they were so annoyed about, Kuyt replied: “That we gave a goal away and also didn’t win. I had a great chance to score another goal, so it’s just really disappointing.

“We wanted to get the three points today and it didn’t happen.”

However, Kuyt vowed that he and his team-mates would continue to work hard in the attempt to turn around a season which plummeted new depths on Wednesday night when they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Coca-Cola Championship side Reading.

He said: “Confidence isn’t very high at the moment, as you could guess, but we have to keep going and work really, really hard and come out of this as quickly as possible.”