IF actions really do speak louder than words, Fernando Torres could hardly have delivered a more emphatic response to Rafael Benitez's decision to 'rest' him for Liverpool's last two league games.

Tuesday's Carling Cup hat-trick at Reading underlined the folly of leaving the Spaniard on the bench as his team-mates toiled to successive goalless draws against Portsmouth and Birmingham, and justified the Anfield faithful's willingness to grumble about the tinkering of a manager who has taken them to two Champions League finals in the space of three years.

Surely today, when Liverpool travel to Wigan, Torres will find himself back in Liverpool's starting line-up? If Benitez's previous record is anything to go by, it might be wise not to bank on it.

For all that Liverpool's Spanish manager insists that this season's priority is a genuine challenge for the Premier League title, his faith in the mantra of rotation continues to over-ride any other considerations that might present themselves.

"If you play too many games you will have problems," repeated Benitez in the wake of last weekend's bore-draw with Birmingham. Perhaps he is right. But if you draw too many home games against sides in the bottom half of the table, your problems are likely to be even greater.

Having previously gone 99 games without naming the same side for two games in succession, Benitez is clearly not about to abandon his favoured formula now.

He can, of course, point to the successes of the last three seasons as proof that his selectorial restlessness works. Liverpool's final game of each of those seasons came in a major final.

Benitez can justifiably claim that some of his Premier League rivals might have enjoyed more success had they followed his methods, and it is true that his rotation policy is only ridiculed when Liverpool slip up. Had Birmingham been beaten last weekend, he would no doubt have been praised for keeping Torres at his sharpest.

But it is equally true that Benitez finds himself in a markedly different position this season.

For the first time in more than a decade, Liverpool find themselves as genuine title contenders. Given the turmoil engulfing Chelsea and the continued concerns over Arsenal's ability to grind out results away from home, they could emerge as the only credible challengers to Manchester United.

And, after a couple of seasons shuffling the likes of Peter Crouch, Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse, Benitez can finally call on the services of a genuinely world-class striker capable of firing his side to the title.

Not only does Torres represent £26.5m worth of talent - more than Liverpool have paid for any other player - he also represents the Anfield club's best chance of sustaining a credible title push, so every time he is dropped to the bench, the stakes are raised that little bit higher.

Of course there is no guarantee that the Spaniard would have changed things last weekend, but if the Premier League really is Liverpool's priority, it is imperative that they field their strongest side in the competition as regularly as possible.

Benitez's side have already thrown four points away while Torres has been kicking his heels on the bench. Even at this stage of the season, they can ill afford to shed many more.