Chelsea's Terry heaps praise on Hazard

Chelsea captain John Terry has hailed Eden Hazard's "world class" contribution to the Blues' recent fine form and backed Fernando Torres to enjoy a bumper year in front of goal in 2014. - Lythell: Oscar stars in New Year win Hazard and Torres starred for Chelsea as they completed a perfect Christmas programme with an impressive 3-0 win at Southampton on New Year's Day that drew high praise from boss Jose Mourinho. And Terry told Chelsea's official website: "Eden has been different class for us. "When we bought him we knew he was a world class player and he's proving that game after game. "He's getting stronger and stronger, he's our top scorer at the moment as well so he's vitally important going forward -- but he's working hard defensively as well so he's a great asset. "Nando [Torres] has been working so hard as well. Hopefully in the New Year he can kick on and score some more goals, but from the team's point of view it was a very good performance [at Southampton, where Torres scored the opener]." Terry revealed that a half-time team talk from Mourinho reminded the Chelsea players of the significance of the game against the Saints as they turned a 0-0 scoreline into an emphatic victory. "The manager stressed that there was no point beating Liverpool and going away to Arsenal and picking up a point against a very good side if we threw it all away," he added. "At half-time, the manager talked about closing the game out and that's the first time we've done that, particularly away from home. It was very important."