Rafael Benitez admits he will be keeping his “fingers crossed” over the fitness of Fernando Torres as Liverpool’s season enters a critical five-day period.
The Spain international has yet to rediscover his sharpness after returning from his latest hamstring problem last month.
Despite two goals against Chelsea last Sunday, a listless Torres had been substituted at Wigan Athletic four days earlier and further raised concerns over his physical state with a below-par performance in Wednesday’s FA Cup defeat at Everton.
But the sale of Robbie Keane and the absence of Steven Gerrard (pictured right) mean Benitez is almost compelled to start with Torres in attack at Portsmouth this evening.
Although Liverpool will then not have a game for a fortnight, Benitez’s worries over Torres are heightened by his likely appearance for Spain in their friendly against England next Wednesday.
And Benitez said: “I was talking about Torres before the Chelsea game and saying he’s not sharp enough but he scored two goals although you could see he was not fully fit. He is improving but not fully fit.
“I think he is over his hamstring problems. Maybe three or four weeks ago, he was still a little bit concerned about this, but the work with the physios has been really good.
“He is not sharp enough. It is a risk to play him, and we took him off against Everton because he was just not able to work any more towards the end.
“The first thing is to decide if he will start, and then if he does, to decide how long he will play. There is no point worrying about him playing for Spain next week because we know he will be selected, whatever we say.
“You cannot change things so I’ll just watch the telly and keep my fingers crossed.”
With Gerrard out for up to three weeks, another injury for a patently unfit Torres would be a major blow to Liverpool.
After Torres returned injured from international duty in October, Benitez sought to liaise more closely with the Spanish set-up and in particular fitness coach Javier Minano.
“I was speaking to the fitness coach this morning,” said Benitez. “The Spanish national team are trying to get all the information they can everything about our players.
“We just have to keep them informed so they can take care of them.
“I worked with (Spain coach) Vicente del Bosque for years. The fitness coach for Spain is the one I had in my youth teams at Madrid, so we have a very good communication.
“We are looking to protect Fernando. Not because we don’t have enough strikers, but because we don’t have any other strikers like Fernando. There aren’t too many like him around the world. He’s a very important player for us.”
The Spain international has yet to rediscover his sharpness after returning from his latest hamstring problem last month.
Despite two goals against Chelsea last Sunday, a listless Torres had been substituted at Wigan Athletic four days earlier and further raised concerns over his physical state with a below-par performance in Wednesday’s FA Cup defeat at Everton.
But the sale of Robbie Keane and the absence of Steven Gerrard (pictured right) mean Benitez is almost compelled to start with Torres in attack at Portsmouth this evening.
Although Liverpool will then not have a game for a fortnight, Benitez’s worries over Torres are heightened by his likely appearance for Spain in their friendly against England next Wednesday.
And Benitez said: “I was talking about Torres before the Chelsea game and saying he’s not sharp enough but he scored two goals although you could see he was not fully fit. He is improving but not fully fit.
“I think he is over his hamstring problems. Maybe three or four weeks ago, he was still a little bit concerned about this, but the work with the physios has been really good.
“He is not sharp enough. It is a risk to play him, and we took him off against Everton because he was just not able to work any more towards the end.
“The first thing is to decide if he will start, and then if he does, to decide how long he will play. There is no point worrying about him playing for Spain next week because we know he will be selected, whatever we say.
“You cannot change things so I’ll just watch the telly and keep my fingers crossed.”
With Gerrard out for up to three weeks, another injury for a patently unfit Torres would be a major blow to Liverpool.
After Torres returned injured from international duty in October, Benitez sought to liaise more closely with the Spanish set-up and in particular fitness coach Javier Minano.
“I was speaking to the fitness coach this morning,” said Benitez. “The Spanish national team are trying to get all the information they can everything about our players.
“We just have to keep them informed so they can take care of them.
“I worked with (Spain coach) Vicente del Bosque for years. The fitness coach for Spain is the one I had in my youth teams at Madrid, so we have a very good communication.
“We are looking to protect Fernando. Not because we don’t have enough strikers, but because we don’t have any other strikers like Fernando. There aren’t too many like him around the world. He’s a very important player for us.”
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