Reina predicts Torres' strike will be the first of many

Pepe Reina believes Fernando Torres' goal against Blackburn Rovers will prove a turning point in the Spanish striker recovering his best form. His strike on Sunday was his first for Liverpool since the 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in August, which was also their last Premier League win before the weekend.

The Liverpool keeper compared Torres' recent struggles to those of their Spanish international team-mate David Villa, who has scored just two goals in seven La Liga games since his summer move to Barcelona. "All the strikers are about the goals. They want to score them and they want to score the winners like Fernando did against Blackburn," Reina said. "I think he can build up now to what he was like of old. What has happened to him is more or less what has happened to Villa in Barcelona.

"They are both great players but when strikers are not scoring, people are always disappointed in them. It's not fair. I don't think we have been assisting him like we should, particularly in the last few weeks. He has not been able to do anything at all."

The Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, echoed Reina's suggestion that the team's victory over Blackburn could spur sustained improvement. "The three points will have done wonders for everyone," said Gerrard. "It was great to see Fernando get on the scoresheet and Joe [Cole] set him up. We have got to use the last two performances as a fresh start but the last thing the players have done is hide behind the fact we've had a bit of an issue off the field. It is all about getting a sequence of results and now we will find out whether we are capable of doing it. That is the challenge for this team."