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Chelsea striker Fernando Torres to demand more of himself next season

The Spanish striker enjoyed a strong end to the campaign

Matt McGeehan
Monday 20 May 2013 12:35 BST
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Torres salutes the Chelsea fans after the Spaniard gave Chelsea the lead
Torres salutes the Chelsea fans after the Spaniard gave Chelsea the lead (Getty Images)

Fernando Torres will demand more of himself and Chelsea next season.

The 29-year-old striker enjoyed his highest goals return since his £50million move from Liverpool in January 2011 - netting 22 goals in 64 appearances - to take his tally to 35 goals in 131 appearances for the Blues.

Torres scored in the Europa League final win over Benfica and the decisive goal in yesterday's 2-1 win over Everton which secured third place in the Barclays Premier League and a return to the Champions League Chelsea won in 2012.

World Cup and European Championship winner Torres, though, is eager for more goals and glory.

"(It is) more goals than last season and closer to my normal statistics," Torres told Chelsea TV following the final day win over Everton.

"I'm happy for the end of the season, for the statistics this season, but I'm asking much more from myself and hopefully next season can be much better."

Torres hopes a young Blues team can also mount a sustained Premier League title challenge after finishing behind champions Manchester United and runners-up Manchester City this term.

"The Premier League is tough, because as soon as you lose a couple of games you're out of the race for the league," Torres added.

"Man United were very consistent this season and even Man City couldn't keep winning games the same way and Man United won the league maybe two months before.

"We're good enough to be consistent. We need to learn from what we have done badly this season, it's a young squad and hopefully the experience of this year can help the team for the next one. I don't think we're too far away (from challenging for the title)."

Torres, who played under former mentor and Blues interim boss Rafael Benitez in the second half of the season, reflected on a strong finish to another tumultuous campaign at Stamford Bridge.

"We must be happy for the way we ended the season," Torres added.

"It's not the way we wanted to when we started the season, but during the season you have to adjust the targets and objectives.

"In the last couple of months we've been working really hard to secure third place, win the Europa League. We have done both, so we must be happy."

PA

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