Grant takes the pressure off his misfiring strikers Anelka and Drogba

CHELSEA coach Avram Grant has taken the pressure off his misfiring strikers, insisting he is unconcerned by the lack of goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

Anelka has only scored twice since arriving at Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window, while Drogba’s only goal after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations came in the Carling Cup final defeat.

Chelsea face Tottenham tonight in a crucial league clash at White Hart Lane and victory would leave Grant’s side level on points at the top with Manchester United and Arsenal. Grant maintains he is not worried by the strikers goal drought as long as they continue to make chances for others and the side keep on winning.

“I’m not worried as long as the team are scoring goals,” Grant said.

“Anelka, when he played against West Ham and against Derby, played like a team player.

“We won because of him. He played well.

“If he plays well and the team scores four or six goals, it’s still good, even if you do judge strikers by goals.

“I’m sure he and Didier will score goals. Our game is that we play with three forwards and the players behind come forward and provide goals. The team score, not one player.”

Chelsea’s capitulation to Spurs at Wembley gave Grant a rare taste of defeat yet the Israeli is adamant that ‘revenge’ is not the word as far as tonight’s game is concerned.

Grant said: “I don’t live in the past. When we came to the Carling Cup, I didn’t think about us having beaten them in the league a few weeks before. I don’t think it will be relevant in this game. In that game at Wembley, we didn’t play. Winning this game would be good. It’s always good to win.

“My team, even if we’d won the Carling Cup, would have wanted to win this game.

“It’s a league game. We have the mentality that we want to win every game we can.”

Chelsea are right back in the title race and after Tottenham, they face Arsenal at home on Sunday.

Both games provide a crucial test of Chelsea’s mental toughness and although many pundits have expressed surprise that they are back in the mix at the top, the Chelsea chief disagrees.

Grant added: “We won many games at the right time. We’re back. We were in the race all the time, but now it’s more clear.”