“The responsibility was on us to be more imaginative to break them down and we didn’t manage to do it. The couple of opportunities we got we didn't take and in a game like that you have to take them,” – Reds boss KENNY DALGLISH.

“I think it was more out of desperation. Some referees might have buckled but thankfully Howard (Webb) is experienced enough and strong enough to have not,” – Stoke manager TONY PULIS on the Reds' penalty appeals.

BEING relegated to the graveyard slot on Match of the Day was no surprise. In fact it was remarkable they gave this game any air time at all.

Liverpool’s New Year’s resolution about putting away inferior opponents at Anfield went down the pan on Saturday.

After the emphatic wins on home soil over Newcastle and Oldham, Kenny Dalglish’s side reverted to type against Stoke City.

Another two points were surrendered on a desperately frustrating afternoon which delivered another painful blow to the Reds’ hopes of Champions League qualification.

The Potters joined Sunderland, Manchester United, Norwich, Swansea, Manchester City and Blackburn on the growing list of teams to depart with a share of the spoils so far this season.

Out of 11 league games at Anfield, just four have been won. Liverpool’s unbeaten home record remains intact but that’s nothing to celebrate.

Fourteen points have been dropped. Draws with United and City can hardly be criticised but look at those other five clubs who have taken something for their troubles and then take a look at the Premier League table.

A failure to beat those sides is the reason why Liverpool are in serious danger of missing out on a top four finish.

On their travels, where the onus is on the hosts to take the initiative, the Reds have flourished this term.

Yet at home, when teams set out to defend and sit deep, Dalglish’s men have consistently failed to break them down. A lack of creativity and cutting edge in the final third has been a recurring theme.

There have been occasions where a glut of chances have been wasted and a heroic visiting keeper has departed with the man of the match bubbly. Not on Saturday.

Rarely has a goalless draw ever looked so inevitable. From the moment the teamsheet arrived it was difficult to see where the goals were going to come from.

In selecting Dirk Kuyt as a lone striker in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing just behind him, Dalglish had a front three with just one Premier League strike between them all season.

It looked like a line up selected primarily to negate Stoke’s aerial prowess. The only problem was the threat provided by the Potters was non-existent.

Tony Pulis had no greater ambition than to grind out a draw as he parked the bus and threw away the keys.

The result was that the Reds had three centre-backs marking Peter Crouch. Not even Lionel Messi commands that degree of shackling.

There was the welcome sight of Jamie Carragher making his first league start since October as Daniel Agger rested a minor knock.

Alongside the vice-captain and Martin Skrtel, Sebastian Coates started a Premier League match for the first time but with Stoke always having 10 men behind the ball the trio were under-worked.

Wing-backs Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique were always going to be key to Liverpool’s hopes of finding a breakthrough. They needed to be flying down the flanks and getting in behind the Potters but it rarely happened.

Enrique, who played despite suffering with a stomach bug, got forward less than he does usually in a back four. Strangely, the popular Spaniard was preoccupied with Jon Walters when defensive duties should have been left to Coates.

In the middle, skipper Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam battled in vain to pick holes in a well drilled rearguard.

The first half was dismal. Liverpool dominated possession but it was all too pedestrian. Too often the ball went sideways rather than forwards.

There was little guile or craft. How the Reds missed Luis Suarez who has now served half of his eight-game ban.

Kuyt was largely isolated and no match on his own for Ryan Shawcross and Robert Huth.

Downing briefly flickered into life but it was a moment which summed up his Liverpool career so far.

There was plenty of promise as the £20million winger charged goalwards from the halfway line but no end product as he lashed a shot into the Anfield Road End.

Downing may have broken his drought in the FA Cup against Oldham but in the Premier League this season no player has had more shots than him without scoring – that’s 45 and counting.

It was telling that when Dalglish brought on Andy Carroll after the break it was Downing who made way. He was bought to provide the ammunition for the big frontman to fire.

The introduction of Carroll belatedly gave Shawcross and Huth something to worry about.

They took it in turns to drag the striker to the ground in the penalty box but referee Howard Webb didn’t want to know.

A sense of injustice finally triggered a greater sense of urgency from the Reds. Henderson, who had forced the only save of the first half from Thomas Sorensen, had a goal-bound volley inadvertently blocked by Carroll.

Kuyt should have lifted the anxiety 13 minutes from time but his nightmare goes on.

The Dutchman hasn’t scored a league goal since last May and it shows. Enrique’s deflected cross dropped kindly to him six yards out but he nodded wastefully wide.

Kuyt spurned another opportunity late on before Skrtel’s header bounced up and over the bar.

Dalglish insisted last week that he’s not looking to do any business during the January transfer window but this stalemate may force him to think again.

Do Liverpool really possess the firepower required to bring Champions League football back to Anfield?

With the Reds on the brink of a Wembley final and with two mouthwatering Cup ties on the horizon, there’s plenty to be optimistic about. The bigger the opponent, the better this team seems to perform.

But the financial reality of modern football explains why getting into the top four remains the overriding priority this season.

To achieve that Dalglish must quickly find a solution to Liverpool’s troubles when they come up against the Premier League’s also-rans.

Only five points separates the Reds from that coveted fourth place but after Saturday’s grim stalemate it seems a long way off.

LIVERPOOL (3-4-2-1): Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Coates, Johnson, Gerrard, Adam, Enrique, Henderson (Bellamy 74), Downing (Carroll 58), Kuyt. Not used: Doni, Aurelio, Shelvey, Kelly, Flanagan.

STOKE (4-1-4-1): Sorensen, Woodgate (Wilkinson 79), Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Whelan, Walters, Palacios (Whitehead 62), Delap, Etherington (Fuller 87), Crouch. Not used: Begovic, Jones, Pennant, Jerome.

GOALS: None

CARDS: Bookings: Stoke’s Shawcross, Sorensen, Walters.

REFEREE: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire).

ATTENDANCE: 44,691.