Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has offered his congratulations to the "outstanding" Manchester City, who clinched the Premier League title on Sunday.
The Reds beat nine-man Newcastle United 2-1 at Anfield on the final day of the season today, but their victory proved futile as the Sky Blues comfortably wrapped up the league crown with a 2-0 win over West Ham United.
The two-point gap in the final standings represents significant progress for the Merseysiders, who could only manage a seventh-placed finish last season.
Consequently, the Northern Irishman is buoyed by the marked improvement and hopes that his troops can go one better in the 2014-15 campaign.
"We have come second to an outstanding squad," he told Sky Sports News.
"Congratulations to Manchester City they have won the league they have an excellent manager and a group of world-class players so congratulations to them.
"We have taken them all the way to the very last game of the season, a team that finished seventh last year and we know we will get better because we have got a lot of improvements to make in the squad and we will continue to grow and improve."
Shola Ameobi and Paul Dummett both received red cards for the Magpies, who were undone by goals from Daniel Agger and Daniel Sturridge in the space of two minutes. Martin Skrtel's first-half own goal had given the visitors the lead.
Shane Callaghan
