He said: “I will not say too much because even after that with 11 players we deserved to win – but it was very clear.

“Fulham were deep, they were well organised and we had to score.

“We had one or two chances, their keeper was good, but it’s not easy to find space when they have players behind the ball.

“We needed to be patient and it was not easy to find the final pass in the final third.

“I am disappointed because I feel that we had plenty of possession.”

Torres missed the game after complaining of a problem in the knee that required surgery earlier this year and ruled the striker out of action for a month.

The Spaniard will once again visit knee specialist Ramon Cugat in Barcelona this morning with Liverpool hopeful Torres does not face another lengthy spell on the sidelines, with the Europa League semi-final against his former club Atletico Madrid to come in less than a fortnight.

“He has a problem with his knee,” said Benitez.

“He’s gone to see a specialist and we are waiting for news.

“We don’t know yet. It depends on what the specialist says tomorrow. He had a problem before and we were trying to protect him.”