Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim has lashed out at Liverpool striker Fernando Torres over an alleged elbow. Ben Haim, 27, was caught in the face by the Spain striker during the second half of Pompey's win and admitted he had to stay calm to protect the lead against Rafael Benitez's men and boost his side's hopes of Barclays Premier League survival.

"I thought he came with the elbow," said the Israel centre-back.

The former Chelsea player insists Avram Grant's men had the last laugh by earning their valuable win.

"At the end of the day this challenge and other challenges are not important," he said.

"In the game there are many challenges that you could say maybe it's yellow or maybe it's red. It's part of the game and you need to continue playing.

"I don't pay much attention to that stuff because after that immediately you have to be focused and you don't want to make stupid challenges to get yourself sent off and leave your team-mates a man down. You need to control yourself. It was good for me to be like that."