‘Torres on the road to recovery’

ANDRE Villas-boas is convinced Fernando Torres is nearing a return to his best despite the Chelsea striker’s continuing problems in front of goal.

Torres once again drew a blank in the 1-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday and last scored in the Premier League on September 24 against Swansea.

The forward did set up Frank Lampard’s winning goal with a spectacular volley that struck the bar, however. And Villas-boas believes the Spain international will now flourish from being guaranteed a run of starts in the absence of Didier Drogba who is on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast.

“The performance was good. He is getting his good run of games. He is finding inspiration, finding motivation, finding form. He has the team and the fans behind him. There was a good demonstration of solidarity behind Fernando from the fans,” Villas-boas said.

“It’s good to see he is picking up confidence, assisting people. He hasn’t been scoring but he is getting nearer every time and I think it is for the benefit of the team.”

Villas-boas, meanwhile, believes Lampard will continue to rewrite the Chelsea record books. The midfielder’s match-winner was his 124th league goal for the club, moving him joint fourth on the club’s all-time list of league scorers alongside Jimmy Greaves.

“I think Frank will continue to threaten all remaining records for the future,” he said. – AFP