Andre Villas-Boas retains confidence in Fernando Torres

Profligate: Fernando Torres
11 April 2012

Andre Villas-Boas is confident a goal is just around the corner for Fernando Torres as the striker marks the anniversary of his record-breaking move to Chelsea against the last Premier League side he scored against.

It is a year ago to the day that Torres became the most expensive player ever bought by a British club when he joined the Blues in a dramatic deadline day deal from Liverpool.

Few would have predicted just how badly he would have flopped at Stamford Bridge during the 12 months that followed, the £50million man having netted just five times in 43 appearances.

But despite being in the midst of his longest drought to date, Torres has begun to show signs of rediscovering his form for the first time since September's Jekyll-and-Hyde display against Swansea.

That match saw the 27-year-old score for the second successive game before getting himself sent off with a senseless two-footed lunge.

Tonight sees Torres take on the same opponents as Chelsea travel to the Liberty Stadium for a match they need to win to maintain the pressure on third-placed Tottenham.

Manager Villas-Boas said: "I think we are seeing a player growing in terms of form.

"Eventually we expect goals from it, and we hope those goals will come back."

Asked if he would have expected Torres not to have scored again in the league after netting against Swansea, Villas-Boas replied: "That is the reality, but he has been helping the team.

"Fernando has equally one of the most assist totals for other players in the club so he is producing for the others as well.

"I think he is confident, to be fair. For the kind of effort he is doing, eventually it will be repaid."

Chelsea will travel to south Wales without captain John Terry, who Villas-Boas yesterday ruled out after the defender aggravated an injury to his right knee first suffered in this month's FA Cup win over Portsmouth.

The Swansea match takes place less than 24 hours before proceedings begin at Westminster Magistrates Court to determine whether Terry used a racist slur against QPR defender Anton Ferdinand back in October, a charge he denies.

Chelsea insisted the decision not to risk Terry tomorrow was purely on medical grounds after he played through the pain in Saturday's fourth round cup win at Rangers, a match the 31-year-old was determined not to miss.

Terry has been suffering with fluid on the knee since colliding with a post during the January 8 third round victory against Pompey but is expected to be fit for Sunday's league clash with Manchester United.

Gary Cahill is set to make his debut tonight alongside David Luiz, while Frank Lampard and Ramires are both out injured.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in