Torres has gone 817 minutes - more than 13-and-a-half hours - without scoring for club and country, with his misery continuing in Chelsea's 1-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Wigan yesterday.

The 27-year-old wasted a golden chance to begin repaying his record-breaking £50million price tag in the final minutes at Stamford Bridge when Benayoun put the ball on a plate for him.

But his rasping finish was close enough to Ali Al Habsi to allow the goalkeeper to make a fine reaction save.

Torres' rueful smile masked his lack of confidence, with the former Liverpool star in danger of becoming one of the most expensive flops in football history.

But team-mate Benayoun, who also played alongside Torres at Anfield for three years until last summer, was adamant the striker would come good.

"For any midfielder, it is great to play with a player like Fernando," said Benayoun, who came off the bench for his first Chelsea appearance for almost six months yesterday following a serious Achilles injury.

"For me, he is the best striker in the world.

"We have three very good strikers in (Didier) Drogba, (Nicolas) Anelka and him.

"For any midfielder, it is easy to play with him and I think he will score a lot of goals because he's just quality."

Torres also started on the bench yesterday, indicating he would be in the XI for Tuesday night's Champions League quarter-final second leg at Manchester United.

Benayoun is also in contention for a game Chelsea must win to keep alive their last realistic hope of silverware this season.

"Everyone knows this is the most important game of the season," the Israel captain said.

"We have to save our season and try to qualify. It will not be easy because Manchester United are a very good team.

"But Chelsea during the last few years have proved they can win at United and they have done it a few times so we will give 100% and try to win the game."

Manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted yesterday his side had no chance at Old Trafford unless they made a massive improvement on what was an ugly performance against Wigan.

But he insisted they had plenty of time to turn Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat against Sir Alex Ferguson's men on its head.

He said: "We don't need to score in the first minute. We have 90 minutes.

"The problem is to score one goal and, if it's possible, more."

Ancelotti refused to reveal details of his likely line-up at Old Trafford but confirmed Benayoun and Alex - who made his first appearance since November yesterday after coming off the bench - were fit to start.

He added: "I'm not sure they can play 90 minutes."

Wigan's defeat left them rooted to the foot of the table, two points adrift of safety.

The one consolation was that other results went their way, but manager Roberto Martinez - who was adamant Torres had fouled Al Habsi in the build-up to Florent Malouda's winner - said: "In the position we're in, I don't think we can look elsewhere.

"We've got our points tally, we've got 18 points to fight for and the next six games are going to be a real challenge.

"We've got absolutely nothing to lose - everything is to gain.

"It's a shame we haven't got 30 games to go because I feel the team has finally clicked."

The Latics continue to pay for their lack of goal threat - they are the lowest scorers in the Premier League, having netted just 29 times in 32 games.

"Sometimes, when you're bottom of the league, things don't go in your favour," said Martinez.

"You get one-v-one with the keeper and you don't find the final solution.

"But I was extremely proud of my players."