Mikel Roots for Torres as EPL season kicks off… happy for Di Matteo

John Obi Mikel is convinced of a big season ahead for teammate Fernando Torres.

Obi Mikel has hailed the preseason form of the Spanish striker.

"You can see Fernando Torres fitting into the way we want to play and hopefully he can do the job," said Mikel, who did not believe there would be a major change of approach.

"This is what we demand from him. This season, I hope he scores more goals for us."

In the Community Shield, Torres began this season as he ended the last, with a goal, and Mikel added: "We hope he's regained his confidence and that, during the season, he will come back and become the Torres we all know.

"There's no doubt about it, he's put in effort every day in training and you can see that in his game. Hopefully, it's just a matter of things working out for him.

"When he has the chances and puts them away, I think everyone in the team will love him."

Meanwhile, Mikel is delighted Roberto di Matteo was handed the fulltime job at Chelsea.

There is no doubting the love from Mikel for manager Di Matteo, who brought the midfielder in from the cold last season.

Mikel was delighted to see the Italian handed the reins full-time.

He said: "That's what you want when you work. When you do well, you demand to get a pay rise or you demand a promotion.

"He's done well, so why not give him a go? The lads all love Roberto and hopefully he can stay in the job for as long as he wants.

"It's important that we are stable. It's important that we know the manager.

"With Roberto, we know what he demands, we know what he wants from us and that's exactly what we're going to give him this season."