Dr Peter Brukner has revealed his delight at the strides Fernando Torres has made in his quest for full fitness - and insists it won't be long before the Spaniard is firing on all cylinders once more.

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Torres bagged his first Reds goal since April with a perfectly executed volley against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday to secure a 1-0 victory for Roy Hodgson's contingent.

It was another forward step on the road to peak condition for the 26-year-old, who was placed on a special training programme by the club's new medical team having returned from the World Cup nursing an adductor injury.

Brukner - who took over as Liverpool's head of sports medicine and sports science this summer - is buoyed by the progress made by Torres and believes the No.9 will soon be in prime condition to wreak havoc on opposition defences.

"He's actually slightly ahead of schedule - he played a game earlier than we thought," Brukner told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"He started off with a few minutes, then a few more minutes and then started the last couple of (Barclays Premier League) games. But for the kick on the shin against West Brom he would have played the whole game.

"We're now at the stage where he can play the whole game. He's still not at his physical peak, that will take another three or four weeks, but I think you can see in every game he's played he's improving.

"I don't think it will be too long before the old Fernando Torres is back - and I'm looking forward to that."

Click the image below to watch our exclusive interview with Dr Brukner

Torres's return to the goal trail is the result of a carefully crafted training regime drawn up by Brukner and his colleagues.

The Australian explained: "Obviously Fernando had a bad run with injuries last season and through the World Cup.

"That was a challenge. We sat down with Fernando and we had a programme that would bring him up slowly, which really didn't involve playing too much in the first couple of games because there wasn't enough time.

"He came back to us 12 days before the first game having not done anything since the World Cup. He got injured in the final and had struggled through the whole World Cup, really.

"We were determined not to push him too hard because we didn't want him breaking down again, but on the other hand he is such an important asset and we wanted to get him back as quickly as possible.

"So we had to find a balance between wanting to get him out there (on the pitch) and a gradual progression.

"Again, we sat down with the physios, the fitness staff, the manager and Fernando and worked out a programme."