Kuyt upbeat after City draw

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt believes their performances against the top sides have improved their chances of regaining Champions League football.

Kenny Dalglish's side were unlucky not to end leaders Manchester City's unbeaten start to the Barclays Premier League campaign on Sunday, with the match only finishing 1-1 because of the brilliance of England goalkeeper Joe Hart in the second half.

The result means Liverpool have not lost in the league to either City, Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal since September 2010, and Kuyt thinks that gives an indication of the direction the team is heading, saying: "In my opinion City have so far been the best team in the Premier League so we can take lots of positives from our performance."

He added: "I think if you had said we would take four points from Chelsea away and City at home you would probably have signed up for it - but I think we could have walked away with all six points."

He added: "That's football and we can't blame ourselves. We worked really hard, did everything we could, and we just have to keep going from here.

"The way we have played against the top sides has been fantastic - we beat Arsenal and Chelsea away and I think we deserved more against United and City. We will keep going in this way.

"We have also played well against the other teams and I think the future is bright. We are on the way forward. That's what we want and we need to keep going and hopefully we can do enough to qualify for the Champions League at the end of the season."

Liverpool are now unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions but that will be tested when they return to Stamford Bridge tomorrow for a Carling Cup quarter-final.

"We can be very satisfied with that," added Kuyt.

"To be unbeaten for a long time says something about the team, the squad and the management."