Chelsea winger Florent Malouda has praised under fire team-mate Fernando Torres after the side's 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night, in which the Spaniard set up both goals.

David Luiz and Juan Mata were on target at Stamford Bridge, with the £50 million man providing assists for the goals.

The French midfielder feels that the performance will boost Torres' confidence, and that the fans need to be patient with him.

"It’s difficult when you see that people focus on one player in the squad, I think that the whole squad works hard every day in training and I think that Fernando is working very well," Malouda told Sky Sports after the game.

"I will say that our fans need to be patient and he works very hard for the team. Tonight he got two assists so that’s good for the confidence and, the more confident he is, the better it will be for the team."

Both John Terry and Frank Lampard did not play in the game, and Malouda feels that squad rotation by boss Andre Villas Boas will be key to Chelsea's success.

"We know this year with the quality we have in the squad there will be a big turnover. Every player plays for their national team so we have a lot of games this season and if we want to achieve our goals we have to be fresh.

"There’s competition for places but the most important is the team and I think with that team spirit we will go far," he concluded.

Chelsea now face a stern test as they travel to take on in-form Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, in what should be Villas Boas' first real test at the club.