Roy Wants Torres To Reap Rewards

Liverpool manager Roy
Hodgson reckons the club can
now reap the benefits of an
improving Fernando Torres,
starting against Birmingham
City on Sunday.
Torres returned to Merseyside
this season carrying a groin
injury suffered in Spain's World
Cup triumph over Holland.
The 26-year-old, who also missed
the end of last season after
undergoing knee surgery, has
been sparingly used by Hodgson
this season and has yet to
complete 90 minutes.
But the former Atletico Madrid
striker is approaching peak
condition and the Reds boss is
predicting big things, beginning
against the Blues on Sunday.
"It's a good sign," Hodgson told
The Liverpool Echo. "He's a
goalscorer, he's a quality player
and is someone we were
desperate to keep at the club
because if you are going to have
a good season, you are going to
need players like him.
"It's going to take him a bit more
time to get over the injury he had
before the World Cup and the
one he sustained in the final but
he is working very, very hard and
he has a good relationship with
the Sports Science department. I
trust them to together to do
what is right for him."
Hodgson expressed his relief that
Torres, who scored a brace for
Spain in their Euro 2012 qualifier
last Friday, was an unused
substitute in the World
champions' friendly defeat to
Argentina.
Plea
"They explained it wasn't
possible for him to skip the trip.
If he'd done that then a lot of
other big name players, like Xavi,
Iniesta, Fabregas might have
wanted to skip it as well," he
added.
"Through fairness they felt
obliged to take everybody, but
the fact he played no part in the
game hopefully means he will
come back in good shape and be
able to work with us instead.
"I spoke to the coach, Vicente del
Bosque through Fernando Hierro
and luckily they listened to my
plea not to over play him."
Aside from having Torres
available for the trip to the St
Andrews, Hodgson is also
confident David Ngog will have
recovered from a hamstring to
take his place in the squad.
"David is much better," said the
Liverpool boss, who is targeting
back-to-back wins over
opposition from the Midlands.
"We were obliged to withdraw
him from the France Under-21
squad and hopefully he will be
able to train on Friday."