Hughes to spend big after Liverpool underline City flaws

Mark Hughes insisted that Manchester City will need to add more players to their squad in January if they are to challenge for a Champions League spot after Dirk Kuyt's injury-time strike sealed a 3-2 win for Liverpool.

With the financial support of the Sheikh Mansour-backed Abu Dhabi United Group, City are aiming to break into the Premier League's exclusive Champions League party, with Liverpool one those clubs at risk from their new-found power in the transfer market.

But after seeing his team throw away a 2-0 half-time lead to concede all three points to Rafael Benitez's men at Eastlands on Sunday, City boss Hughes admitted that he still needs time to reshape his squad.

Hughes said: “People have to be realistic because we are only a few games into the Premier League season and once again we will be frustrated by the international break this week.

“That makes it more difficult to get the benefit of a clear week when we can work with the players on the training pitch. We still need to find that consistent level of performance and resoluteness in match situations.

“We are still a team with obvious frailties, but we will work hard to resolve them when the transfer window reopens in January.”

Liverpool, who lost Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel with suspected knee ligament damage in the 19th minute, trailed to goals from Stephen Ireland and Javi Garrido at half-time.

But two strikes from Fernando Torres — either side of Pablo Zabaleta's red card for a foul on Xabi Alonso — and Kuyt's late winner completed a stunning victory and Benitez paid tribute to the fighting spirit displayed by his players.

He said: “We had a poor first-half and at half-time, I just said to the players that they had to score a goal and get back into the game.

“We made two mistakes and conceded two goals, but the reaction in second-half showed the determination and character of my players. It was fantastic.”

Benitez had surprisingly chosen to start the game with Irish forward Robbie Keane on the bench, despite seeing him end his eleven-hour and 26-minute goal drought against PSV Eindhoven in midweek.

But the Liverpool manager insisted that his decision not to start with the former Tottenham forward was purely tactical.

He said: “I started with Robbie on the bench because City have a big pitch, it is very wide, and I wanted to try to get more players in midfield. It meant I could give more freedom to Steven Gerrard.”

The defeat means City have now lost three of their last four in the league, but Hughes was satisfied with the performance of his players.

He said: “We were excellent in the first-half because we really took the game to a very strong and adept Liverpool side. We gave them as difficult a time as anybody this season.

“But we spoke about the likely response from Liverpool at half-time, so I'm disappointed that we let them back into the game so early in the second-half.

“We worked hard to get something from the game after the sending off, but Pablo caught Alonso's standing leg, so I can see why the referee showed the red card.”