Ivanovic: We never doubted Torres

BRANISLAV IVANOVIC has insisted Chelsea’s players never doubted Fernando Torres would come good after the £50m man took the biggest step yet towards ending his nightmare start to life at Stamford Bridge.

Torres netted his first double for the Blues since his record-breaking January move from Liverpool in Wednesday’s Champions League thrashing of Genk, taking his tally to four goals from his last four club appearances.

His previous two strikes this season against Manchester United and Swansea had been marred, respectively, by one of the worst misses in Premier League history and the Spaniard’s first red card in English football.

And although he might easily have had a hat-trick against Genk, Wednesday’s 5-0 win was easily Torres’ most trouble-free outing in a Chelsea jersey.

Ivanovic, who joined his fellow 27-year-old on the scoresheet with his first goal of the season against Genk, said: “I always said there is no question about Fernando Torres because he is great.

“He showed every day his professionalism on the training ground, how he is working hard for the team.

“As a team, we expect more goals from him this season.

“Fernando showed his quality in his play and how he will fight for the team. We are happy with that.”

Now Chelsea head to Loftus Road on Sunday and look certain to recall John Terry, Didier Drogba and Juan Mata, all of whom were rested on Wednesday.

Chelsea were unable to cope last season when their biggest names were not in the side, but their 2011 recruitment drive has given them a squad that bears comparison with any since Roman Abramovich bought the club.

Ivanovic said: “For us, we play every game with three, four, five new, fresh players. This is important. We have great options up front and it is important for all of the guys to be ready for the competitions and always show their best on the pitch to get the best results for the club.”

Ivanovic refused to get carried away with Chelsea’s solid start to the season.

“We have the confidence. We are growing up as a team every game,” he said. “We have a very big London derby game and, after that, we go game by game.’’