Allen targets return to fitness and form
Joe Allen admitted it was a case of mixed emotions against Bolton Wanderers as he returned from injury, but was unable to help Liverpool progress to the FA Cup fifth round at the first attempt.
The Wales international was named in Brendan Rodgers' starting XI for the first time since the defeat to Manchester United in December as the Reds welcomed Neil Lennon's side to Anfield.
Allen picked up a knee problem in the game at Old Trafford, which meant he missed the nine following fixtures before featuring for 67 minutes against Wanderers on Saturday.
Lucas Leiva came on in his place on a day when the home side piled pressure upon their visitors but were thwarted by a series of smart saves from opposition goalkeeper, Adam Bogdan.
"There's a feeling of disappointment because we thought we did enough to get the goal to win the game, but unfortunately it wasn't to be," Allen told Liverpoolfc.com. "Despite that, I thought there were certainly some positives to take.
"Bogdan deserves plenty of credit - as does the rest of the Bolton team - he pulled off some good saves. I thought they came here organised and worked really, really hard.
"They still carried a little bit of a threat, which always kept us on our toes going the other way. They earned a replay, but we look forward now to going there and doing the job there.
"I thought we did enough to have won the game, but fair play to Bolton. They defended for their lives and unfortunately, we didn't quite get that decision or that bit of luck that would have got us across the line."
Allen added: "I've been itching to get back out there. It's always difficult for a footballer being out and so from a personal point of view, it's a great positive to get minutes under my belt and now start to get myself back up to match speed."
Allen and co will now shift their attentions to Tuesday and a trip to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
Liverpool were the dominant force in the opening encounter between the two teams, forcing Jose Mourinho's side to defend an avalanche of attacks at the Kop end in an attempt to overturn Eden Hazard's first-half converted penalty.
Raheem Sterling surged past the opposition's midfield and then through the heart of the Chelsea defence before finishing beyond Thibaut Courtois to equalise, meaning the scores are locked at 1-1 ahead of the decider in the capital.
"Of course we can get a result - we all can't wait," said Allen. "These are the games you want to play in and from the first leg, you can see from the way that we set out and the way that we performed, that we can certainly get through this tie.
"We'll recover after this game now and our focus turns to that game and going there and getting ourselves through."