Ben Haim points finger at Torres

Tal Ben Haim has accused Fernando Torres of deliberately using his elbow on him during Liverpool's crushing defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday.

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 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."

Ben Haim was also involved in the tackle that led to Javier Mascherano getting a straight red card in the first half, which Benitez felt changed the game.

"I thought that it was a good decision by the referee," he said. "Especially as I moved the ball when he came. It's part of the game so you have to take it."

Midfielder Jamie O'Hara believes Fratton Park's atmosphere played a part in Liverpool's dismal performance, along with a lack of confidence running through Benitez's squad.

"No one wants to come to Fratton Park," he said. "The fans are fantastic and over the last few weeks we've made it a hard place to come."

On Liverpool, he added: "Something maybe isn't gelling in the team. Maybe something isn't quite right. They lost a couple of good players and it's going to be difficult to replace people like Xabi Alonso.

"I still fancy them being up there at the end of the season challenging for the Champions League spot because you can never write them off."