LIVERPOOL, Feb 4 — Liverpool have got over Fernando Torres' departure already, manager Kenny Dalglish said as his side prepared to face their ex-team mate less than a week after the striker's move to Chelsea.

The Spaniard is expected to make his debut for the Premier League champions in Sunday's match against his former club at Stamford Bridge and while Dalglish was disappointed to have let him go, he has also moved on.

"Everybody was disappointed that he left the club, what was most disappointing was the timing but we'll get on with life," Dalglish told a news conference when asked about Torres' £50 million (RM247.3 million) move to London.

"The football club, the owners did everything we possibly could but it wasn't to be. We've moved on, he's playing for someone else. It's something we'll live with."

Torres' departure came just as the 18-times English champions were showing signs of recovering from the slump they endured under previous manager Roy Hodgson after appointing fan favourite Dalglish to turn things around last month.

Dalglish denied that facing Torres so soon after his departure added extra spice to the encounter, saying his players put in maximum effort whatever the occasion.

He said no player was bigger than the club and instead focused on the positives such as the fact the new owners had shown ambition by splashing out on strikers Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez to replace Torres.

"They said when they came in they wanted to get the club back to where it should be and this was the first opportunity to show ambition and they have certainly done that," Dalglish said of the Americans who took over in October and spent more than £55 million on the England and Uruguay strikers on Monday.

"They are actually a little bit disappointed they didn't get more players in — that's a good thing."

Dalglish, who won eight league titles as a player and manager at Liverpool before leaving 20 years ago, said there was no point dwelling on a player who had left the club.

"If we've lost one, we've lost one ... The most important thing for us is the two people that have come in," he said.

"The most important people are the people at this football club and the people who care for this football club."

Asked how Liverpool would deal with the threat of Torres on Sunday, Dalglish replied: "We'll just play against any player they put on the pitch. We're more important than any player they've got."

Liverpool have now strung together three wins in a row to move up to seventh in the table with Suarez scoring on his debut in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Stoke City.

The Uruguayan will have to wait a few weeks before he can link up with his new partner as Carroll has a thigh strain but he was confident they had the makings of a great strike force.

"He's a typical tall number nine that my type of player combines well with historically," he told reporters. "It's a promising partnership." — Reuters

 

ROME, Feb 4 — Inter Milan reignited their Serie A title charge thanks to Morocco midfielder Houssine Kharja setting up a 3-0 win at bottom side Bari yesterday.

The victory lifts the defending champions to seven points behind leaders AC Milan, who drew 0-0 with Lazio on Tuesday, while a game in hand for Leonardo's men makes the scudetto run-in even more interesting.

Kharja, signed on loan from Genoa last week to boost Inter's injured ranks, broke the deadlock on 70 minutes when he finished off some good interplay with Samuel Eto'o.

Giampaolo Pazzini and the returning Wesley Sneijder then scored in injury-time to slightly flatter Inter, who could have been down to 10 men at 0-0.

Inter left back Cristian Chivu lashed out at defender Marco Rossi and although the officials did not see the incident, post-match television evidence will probably lead to a ban. — Reuters