Liverpool 2 Blackburn Rovers 1

LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson believes striker Fernando Torres is rediscovering the joy of football after five months of criticism.

The 26-year-old scored only his second goal of the season in the 2-1 win at home to Blackburn but, crucially, it was the winner.Rumours have been rife about the Spain international’s happiness under the new regime at Anfield but Hodgson thinks other matters have been weighing him down.

‘‘Fernando played well, an awful lot better. That was his best performance for the team this season,’’ said the Liverpool manager.

‘‘It is very nice when you have had a good performance and caused as many problems as he did and looked as likely to score as he did on so many occasions that he actually got one and put it in the back of the net.

‘‘He will be very happy and we will need him to score many more goals if we are really going to move into a position in the table where we think we should be. He was very down when he came back from the World Cup; maybe people do get a bit down when they are constantly criticised left, right and centre.

‘‘He was affected by the amount of criticism he took during the World Cup and of course then the criticism which has come to the club and myself when we haven’t produced the performances.

‘‘I think maybe he is starting to come out of that and find the joy of playing again and re-find his energy and intensity.’’ Hodgson added: ‘‘It is something we work on in training all the time but you can’t infuse that into a player, you can talk about it, demand it, ask him for it but he is the one who has to find it himself when the match starts.

‘‘I think he did that very well today and it is a long while since I have seen a team create as many chances as we did, especially in the first half to score no goals.’’ ‘‘I’m very happy with the three points and very happy with the performance,’’ said the Liverpool manager.

‘‘There were elements of our performance which have been visible in matches we have lost or drawn so I don’t want to suggest everything is hunky dory.”