Carra prays for Torres return

Jamie Carragher is desperate to see Fernando Torres return from international duty fit - claiming he can be the difference between Liverpool and the other teams vying for Champions League football.

Torres was handed his first start since mid-January against Blackburn on Sunday - and responded with his 13^th goal of the campaign.

He will now join up with his Spanish teammates for a friendly with France - a game Carra will take a particular interest in.

"Fernando has come back in and it goes without saying how much we have missed him. He is still our top scorer, the kind of special player who will make a difference," said the No.23.

"I know from training against him that he can cope with the physical side. He's a big, powerful lad, who is right up for the fight, and he's ideally suited to English football.

"That's why he's done so well. It would be wrong to rely on just one man. After all, you never know, he could come back injured off international duty.

"Please God, that doesn't happen. But he makes a big difference and you can see we are a much better team when he is with us.

"Glen Johnson will be back soon, maybe in time for Wigan, and things are looking a bit more rosy. You talk about having a squad but we've got our big players back."

Carra admits the 2-1 victory over Sam Allardyce's men was not always pretty, but he thinks it was a crucial three points following wins for Tottenham and Man City.

"It was a massive win," he said. "We knew there was pressure on us with Tottenham and Manchester City winning and when you have played away from home on a Thursday night it is really difficult.

"When you add in to it that Blackburn will have been preparing all week for the game and you knew they were going to make it tough, the three points looks even better.

"We know we didn't play fantastically well and that it was more of a fight than anything but we have got three points going into an international break. That's all we wanted.

"You could see everyone at the end was desperate to fight for it. It got to the point where we even felt under pressure when they had free-kicks on the edge of their box but we have won. That's all that matters."

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