FERNANDO TORRES has told Rafael Benitez not to worry about his fitness after expressing he always wants to play for the Spanish national team.

The Liverpool striker will line up for his country tomorrow in their glamour friendly against France despite having only recently overcome a serious knee injury.

Torres made his first start in more than six weeks when scoring the winner in the Anfield outfit’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, following a 15-minute appearance from the bench in the goalless draw at Manchester City the previous weekend.

That fleeting Eastlands outing was enough to persuade Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque to last week include the forward in his squad for tomorrow’s game.

Although playing down any talk of a rift with the Spanish national set-up, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has vowed to keep a close eye on the amount of time Torres plays tomorrow.

But Torres has dismissed such concerns and instead thanked Del Bosque for the call-up despite his lack of match practice.

“Rafa has enough to deal with with what he’s got,” said the 25-year-old. “It’s normal that he’s thinking about his interests and I understand his position, but he knows that all the players want to go to the national team.

“For us it is an honour to be here, to play as much as possible and to return as fit as possible to our teams.

“Luckily I recovered in time. To be in the national squad is a prize for me. I have the good fortune that the coach called me up after playing just two games since I recovered.”

The goal against Blackburn means Torres has now scored 13 goals in 17 Premier League appearances this season.

Torres will be hoping to replicate that against France as Spain look to avenge their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Les Bleus which saw them knocked out of the last World Cup.