The Fulham captain was involved in the incident which led to Chelsea taking the lead at the end of the first half when Frank Lampard drilled home a penalty.

However, the in-form Clint Dempsey headed home a deserved equaliser eight minutes from time to lift Fulham up to ninth in the standings and level with Murphy's former club Liverpool in eighth.

Murphy felt aggrieved to be trailing at the interval and expressed his satisfaction with the quality of football the Cottagers produced against their local rivals.

Good stuff

"I thought we were good value," Murphy told Sky Sports. "In fact, at one point I thought we looked like the team who were going to win it.

"In the first half we played some really good stuff and felt a little bit aggrieved to go in one behind.

"The ref tells me there was a touch from behind as he come into me with the tackle and he give it. It was a good pen from Lamps.

"We did feel a bit disappointed and I think that showed in the first 10 minutes of the second half. We were a bit flat, but we got a grip on the game again and played some good stuff.

"I'd like to see the stats as I thought possession-wise we were as good as them, if not better, and even though it was only a draw, it was one of our best performances this season."

Murphy is now targeting a positive end to the season and he also praised youngster Karim Frei's display on the left wing.

He added: "I think last year we finished eighth and we can maybe try and better that. It's going to be difficult and we've got some tricky away games coming up at Everton and Liverpool.

"We've got to keep going, keep working hard and we've shown in recent weeks when we've had a few problems with injuries, that there is good strength in depth.

"I have to mention Frei's performance as he hasn't played much recently, but he has come into a game like that and to perform like he did against Ivanovic, who is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League and he made him look average."