Manchester City defender Micah Richards was pleased to get on the scoresheet in their 1-1 draw with Stoke City.
City's England defender fired the Blues ahead in style only for Matthew Etherington to snatch an equaliser in time added on to prevent a second successive away win for Roberto Mancini's men.
Richards told City's website: "I thought we defended well, so to concede in the last few minutes was devastating. We knew we'd face a lot of balls in the air and we dealt with them.
"We dug in deep in a hard fixture, but we knew it was going to be tough. Liverpool and United found it hard coming here as well. Stoke created a lot of chances and had one cleared off the line."
Richards expects City to remain in the hunt despite dropping points. He said: "It's going to be really tight at the top. It's now a top five or six up there. It's getting harder every year but I'm sure we'll be alright.
"I don't know what the panic was about. We're right up there and we are all happy with the way it is going."
