Pepe Reina believes Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has unfairly come under criticism this season for his lack of goals up front.
Torres scored only his second goal in 11 appearances this season on Sunday as the Reds beat Blackburn 2-1 at Anfield.
After an injury hit World Cup and the low-scoring start to the campaign, the media have got on the back of the Spanish international.
But Reina believes Torres’ low scoring record is down to poor service from his teammates, rather than a striker off form.
“All strikers are about the goals,” the Reds goalkeeper said. “They want to score them and they want to score the winners like Fernando did against Blackburn. 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 David 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. We know he is the type of player that can win a game just like that, but we can’t expect him to keep doing it on his own. We have to feed him in. That’s the point.”
Liverpool now play Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League at the Reebok Stadium. Victory could propel the Reds from the relegation zone into the top half of the table.