LIVERPOOL striker Fernando Torres has denied claims of putting country before club after having a second knee operation which has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

LIVERPOOL striker Fernando Torres has denied claims of putting country before club after having a second knee operation which has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

The Spain international underwent surgery on Sunday night to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee sidelining him for the rest of the Reds’ campaign.

Torres should be back within six weeks of the operation however meaning he should be fit for the World Cup in South Africa.

But Torres said this had nothing to do with the timing of the surgery.

“We exhausted all the possibilities before arriving at the final one,” said the 26-year-old.

“There were three options. One was that the meniscus was okay, the second was that the problem was not clear and the third that the meniscus was affected.

“On Friday afternoon in Liverpool the scan I had cleared up the doubts and made us see that I would almost definitely have to have an operation.

“The meniscus was affected and the doctors said they had to operate.

“What’s more, the injury happened in the second minute of the game (Europa League quarter-final second leg) against Benfica at Anfield and I played injured for 85 minutes.

“If I had been thinking about the World Cup and Spain I would have asked for a change (substitution).

“It wasn’t like that, I wanted to get to the final of the Europa League with my team.”