Roy Hodgson saluted Liverpool's second-half fightback but was left to rue missed opportunities after they were held to a 2-2 draw in a rollercoaster encounter against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

The Reds got off to the perfect start when Dirk Kuyt fired home on five minutes but were left stunned as Darren Bent struck either side of half-time to put the visitors in front.

Hodgson felt his team showed great character to pull level courtesy of Steven Gerrard's header and believes their reaction to going behind proves they are beginning to get their season back on track.

Hodgson told his post-match press conference: "It wasn't the result we wanted, we wanted a victory, but in many ways it was the performance we wanted.

"We had a bright start and lost our way, but after such a bright start I felt we could have been two goals up because I thought Torres's goal that was disallowed for offside was incorrectly ruled out.

"So we did start well but then Sunderland got back into the game and evened things out. I think the penalty they got was fairly compensatory because I don't subscribe to accidental handballs, wherever a player's hand may be. For me, a handball must be intentional and there is no way anyone will persuade me that was.

"So we came in at 1-1 and then suffered the real cold shower of going 2-1 down very early in the second half. But I thought the reaction of the players was extremely good. I thought we dominated the game totally after that and created lots of good chances. But unfortunately we only scored from one of them."

He added: "I think over the 90 minutes we were certainly more than worth the point we got. I thought it was a very exciting second half, and I'm pretty sure the fans will join me in appreciating the effort, spirit and determination of the players. That in itself is another little step forward."

Liverpool's opening goal was met by loud protests from the visiting players after referee Stuart Attwell adjudged Michael Turner to have taken a free-kick that gifted the ball to Fernando Torres, allowing the Spaniard to race clean through and tee up Kuyt to steer home.

Click on the image to watch Roy's press call in full

However, Hodgson felt the award of the goal was the correct decision.

"I don't know if we were gifted a start, I thought it was a good bit of quick thinking from Torres and Kuyt," he said. "Like I said, we could have been 2-0 up because I don't think the first goal should have been ruled out.

"But we were at home, we wanted to win the game and hoped to build on that - unfortunately there is an opponent to play and they had something to say in that matter.

"We need to work more together, we have a lot of new players coming into team. We haven't had that much time with matches in the Europa League and the league, but I think that the more we work and the more the team plays together, the better we will become.

"It's quite simply the 'Rome wasn't built in a day' adage. There's lots of things I see in the game that I think we need to work on. But I have a group of players here who will work at it, will get better and I think you saw that during the course of the game today."

Quizzed by journalists as to whether he thought it was a match Liverpool needed to win if they have aspirations of challenging at the top, Hodgson said: "Look at the results today - Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal all lost.

"These are games we all need to win, but the league is very, very tight. If we had won today we could have found ourselves in fourth or fifth place. I don't think we are playing like a team in fourth or fifth just yet, but that's how close the league is.

"There's not a lot between teams and it shows how hard the Barclays Premier League is."

Asked about the fans' protest following the match, Hodgson said: "I don't think anybody at the club wants anything but a solution to the ownership problem.

"The fans here are very passionate and care an awful lot about this football club. You cannot criticise them for showing their displeasure about the situation, because like ourselves they want to see the club moving forward and not sort of stuck with owners who are trying to sell the club."