Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas admits goal shy Fernando Torres is not guaranteed a first team place.

While Villas-Boas is happy to put his faith in Torres, he hinted that the former Atletico Madrid forward may face a battle to keep his place when Didier Drogba returns.

"It is normal, he is taking his time," he said of Torres.

"The confidence is there and we believe a lot in the player, he helped the team with his lay offs and passing and in this situation he has to continue to persist and maybe we can create opportunities that can help us win games.

"If we need to create more opportunities for him to score then that's what we need to do."

He added: "The two players (Drogba and Torres) compete for the striker position, when Didier arrives back it will be healthy competition and we know the significance of Didier to this team and his goals record.

"We will reassess things when Didier comes back and see how tired he is. His ambition is to stay with us and try and win trophies, so he will be a major plus for the team."