We went behind early on to a fine strike from Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch, but heads did not drop and after Marc Cucurella had twice gone close, Enzo Fernandez equalised on 35 minutes with a free-kick that found its way in.

In the second half, Cole Palmer had a goal disallowed for offside after a VAR check and there were chances for both sides to win it, while we had a big appeal for a late penalty waved away after Joao Pedro was felled inside the box.

In his post-match summary, our interim head coach pointed to that decision and other what-ifs that might have, on another day, meant a big win.

‘It was a really good performance,’ said McFarlane.

‘It could have gone either way, really, at certain moments in that game. Probably, being a little bit biased, we could have won the game. We had some good moments.

‘I remember Enzo's chance in the first half, Cucurella getting into some really good areas, crossing areas, another marginal offside, a penalty that I thought - and I know it's a tough job for officials - but I think that's a clear penalty. So arguably we could have come away with three points.’

McFarlane recognised an improved display and a well-earned point against the team starting the weekend in fourth provides the Blues with a much-needed confidence boost heading into the FA Cup final next weekend.

‘This club needs to win games of football, and we haven't done that today. We're not happy with the form and some of the recent performances, so yeah, it's nice to have a good, complete performance.

‘It would have been better with a win, but when you come to these places, it's really difficult. So it’s a positive day.’