Jordan Henderson praised the "character" of Liverpool to twice fight back to earn a point at Manchester City - but accepts the Premier League title destiny is now out of their hands.
The Reds remain a point behind leaders City with seven games to play after Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane both netted in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Pep Guardiola's side - who were 14 points clear of Liverpool in mid-January - had previously won all 23 Premier League games this season in which they had taken the lead.
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But Henderson admits City now have the advantage while insistent Liverpool deserve credit for the manner in which they came back after "tough moments" during a harrowing first half.
"We wanted to come here and win and then it would have been in our hands in the next seven games," said the Liverpool skipper. "Unfortunately it's not and it's in City's hands. We have to keep going right to the end and if there's any slip-up we need to be there ready to pounce. That's the mentality.
"Mixed emotions as we wanted three points but we dug deep and didn't lose the game, which is important as well. We have to take the positives and move on and get ready for the next game.
"It's going to be an intense game at this level and magnitude, and it was, especially early on. We could have started a bit better but to be fair I thought we kept going and went behind twice and came back twice, that's really positive and shows great character to keep going in tough moments. But at the same time we can be a bit better, especially with the ball. I felt when we played football it hurt them, and that's where the goals came from."
Henderson, speaking to LFC TV, added: "You know at times you are going to suffer against this team and you are going to have to dig in. We did that and stayed in the game. On another day we could have nicked it at the end with a set-piece. We can have no regrets, really.
"When we did play football we caused them problems, you have to show personality to get on the ball and when we did that in the first half we got our goal but not often enough, and we did that at the start of the second half and got our (second) goal."
