Source: Team_Talk
Hodgson enthused by Torres upturn
iverpool manager Roy Hodgson has seen signs that Fernando Torres is getting back to his best.[LNB] The Reds' star striker has endured a difficult start to the season but hit the winner in last Sunday's crucial Premier League win over Blackburn.[LNB]That was only the second goal of the campaign for the Spanish World Cup winner, who has struggled for form since undergoing a knee operation in April.[LNB]Hodgson told LFC TV: "I think his desire and his wanting to do a good job have been there from the very first day.[LNB]"It is just a combination of things - maybe the team is playing a bit better and their extra confidence is giving him extra confidence.[LNB]"Football is always a big amalgam of a lot of factors.[LNB]"You do need, if you are going to have a good team, your good players in good form producing what they are capable of producing.[LNB]"With Fernando on Sunday, we definitely saw that.[LNB]"I see it in training every day and I just hope he keeps going and we have a good few months of it."[LNB]Torres' goal secured only the troubled Merseysiders' second Premier League win of the season in their ninth outing.[LNB]The team remain in the bottom three but Hodgson has taken huge encouragement from the 2-1 victory over Blackburn and wants to carry the momentum into Sunday's trip to Bolton.[LNB]Hodgson said: "One of the major problems is we haven't started games as well as we would have liked.[LNB]"The intensity has not been there right from the offset. We have had to build up to it during the game.[LNB]"In Sunday's game we had the intensity from the offset.[LNB]"We have had nine league games - not the most successful league games either - and seven European games, almost the same number.[LNB]"It is possible one or two of those European games did affect the intensity from the off.[LNB]"But it has been a good lesson for us, a good learning curve for everybody.[LNB]"The performance we gave in the second half against Everton and the whole of the game against Blackburn - that is what we need for the whole 90 minutes in the remaining 29 games."[LNB]Liverpool will again be without Dirk Kuyt at the Reebok Stadium but the forward is making encouraging progress in his recovery from an ankle problem.[LNB]Kuyt was expected to be sidelined for a month after sustaining the injury on international duty a fortnight ago but could now be back to face Chelsea a week on Sunday.[LNB]Full-back Glen Johnson has an outside chance of returning at Bolton after a thigh injury.
