Soccer:Fernando Torres admits his old club Liverpool caught Chelsea by surprise on his debut yesterday. But Torres has vowed Chelsea will still have a major role to play in the Premier League title race.

The striker’s much-hyped first appearance in a blue shirt failed to live up to expectations at Stamford Bridge, where Torres was eventually replaced after 66 minutes as the Reds went on to win 1-0 through a goal from Raul Meireles.

Liverpool, who continue to improve under Kenny Dalglish following a fourth successive league victory, deployed three central defenders which limited the impact of Torres and Didier Drogba, who were supported by Nicolas Anelka.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has vowed to make the new system work, and Torres maintains the Blues will not be caught out again.

“It was very difficult, Liverpool played a good game, with three at the back,” Torres said. “We were not expecting that and maybe they took advantage of that. I think the fair result was the draw, it was unfair to lose that game, but now we are looking forwards to the next game and will keep fighting until the end.

“There are a lot of points still to play (for).”

Apart from an early chance when he latched onto a stray pass from Maxi Rodriguez and then fired his 20-yard effort over the bar, and a close-range effort blocked by Jamie Carragher, Torres rarely troubled the Liverpool back-line.

The travelling supporters barracked their former Kop idol at every opportunity, and took great delight in his substitution — chanting “You should have stayed at a big club” when he sat down in the Chelsea dugout.

Torres preferred to look on the positive welcome he received from the Stamford Bridge faithful.

“Obviously everyone wants to win, especially if it is their first game at home, but I will still have very good memories about my reception here and want to thank all of the Chelsea fans for that nice reception,” he said. “The result was not the best, but we have to keep going and fighting until the end.”