Torres played through the pain barrier

Liverpool hot-shot striker Fernando Torres has admitted that he played through the pain barrier in the Reds 2-0 Premiership victory over bitter rivals Manchester United.

"I wasn't really at my best. We knew before the game I couldn't play to 100 per cent because I had some pain in some actions, but in games like this the pain doesn't matter," said Torres to the official site.

"I feel a bit of pain when I shoot across so I could only shoot towards the near post - it was the only thing I could do!"

"I am really happy for the fans and the players and we will enjoy this," said Torres.

"We are in the race again. We knew before the game that we had to win and we did it. Now we have a bit of confidence but we have to keep it going on Wednesday in the Carling Cup against Arsenal.

"Then we have to be focused for Fulham. But we feel like a strong team again because we're working all together like in the past.

"We will see what happens and then look at things at the end."

Reds boss Rafael Benitez confirmed Torres was not 100% fit, and the decision to play him was made on the coach traveling towards the stadium.

“I got Fernando’s opinion on the coach and, after talking with the staff, we decided he would play," said Rafael Benitez.

“You could see that he was not 100 per cent and you could see that he was not fresh, but sometimes, 80 per cent of Fernando can make a difference.

"We knew that he was not 100 per cent fit but it wasn’t a risk so in the end he was able to play.

“It has been a fantastic result, maybe it was the perfect game because we knew that we had to perform against a good team in front of our own fans and it was a fantastic performance from the players.”