Kuyt hammers home the importance of it all

Last updated : 07 February 2009 By Adam Bryant
"Today was a massive game for us," he said after the match. "It doesn't matter how we won today but we needed to win and we did. We showed a lot of character today and it was a great match.

"We got beat with two minutes to go at Everton in the FA Cup, which was a big disappointment for us and we knew another important game was coming up today at Portsmouth and twice coming back from behind is really good.

"The pitch was a bit rubbish. I think Ryan was really unlucky with his chance earlier on. The Portsmouth defender missed the ball and I just tried to hit the target. I was a bit lucky but sometimes you need to be a bit lucky.

When asked about Fernando Torres, who's injury time goal won the game, the Dutchman added: "I think he is really important. We are very happy that he's back from injury. He was very important against Chelsea, very important today and I'm sure he'll be very important for the rest of the season.

"It's very important to stay close behind Manchester United and hopefully they'll drop some points tomorrow, we'll see. We're just focused on our own game and that's the next game against Manchester City."

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