Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti denies his squad is over the hill after their FA Cup draw with Everton.
Though Ancelotti refused to be drawn on his pursuit of Torres, he hit back at suggestions that age might be catching up with his squad.
"That is not true," he said. "It is true we went through a very difficult moment, but we were without John Terry for one month, without Lampard, without Essien and without Drogba, so it was very difficult to maintain a good level of football without those players.
"It's not true that the squad is too old. There are a lot of young players in the squad. Usually, when things are not good, everyone mentions the players being over 30 years old.
"But we have young players in Ramires and McEachran, who didn't play today but is 17 years old. The age of the squad is very good.
"I don't agree that this performance was a step backwards after the way we played at Bolton. It was a different game with it being the FA Cup. There is a different atmosphere and Everton tried everything to win this game and to avoid the replay.
"It was difficult but the result was good for us and we have more possibilities to move on with the replay at home."
