Big-game hunter Anelka breaks his duck for Chelsea

Now with his fifth English club, Anelka has not picked up a medal since leaving Arsenal, where he was part of the side that won the Double back in 1998.

The Frenchman is desperate to face Tottenham in next month's Carling Cup Final next month but impressed in another knock-out competition on Saturday, scoring the opener in the 2-1 win over Wigan to help Chelsea into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The 28-year-old had shown in his previous three appearances why manager Avram Grant was prepared to spend £15million to snap him up from Bolton.

But this was a display of real class, with Anelka showing good judgment and quality touch to score at the JJB Stadium and then a street-wise streak and a bit of intelligence to lay on a second for Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Having swapped a scrap against the drop at the Reebok Stadium for a chase for honours on four fronts, Anelka is loving life in London and said: "It's a while since I won a medal. It would be nice if I could put that right this year and obviously there's a good chance because we are already in the Carling Cup Final.

"I am looking forward to trying to win that one and, also, we are still in the race for everything else. I hope this season that my wait will come to an end and I will have more trophies.

"It's a strange feeling for me because it's like another world at Chelsea to where I was. I was fighting against relegation and now I am fighting to win things.

"So it's weird for me but I'm enjoying it and it's the same because I am still trying to score goals and win football matches. I am new but it feels like I've been here a long time. The other players talk to me as if I've been one of them for a while.

"Everything is possible. It will be very difficult for us to win everything, but that is our aim."

This was not exactly vintage Chelsea, but they were well worth an eighth straight victory.

Joe Cole, who along with Florent Malouda and Wright-Phillips tried to support Anelka as often as possible, went close to opening the scoring with less than a minute gone, fooling Kevin Kilbane and firing just high and wide of goal from 20 yards but, otherwise, it was a first half of few chances.

Wayne Bridge, in for the 'rested' Ashley Cole, did well to nick the ball away from Marcus Bent with the Wigan striker poised to shoot in the best opening before the interval.

But eight minutes after the restart, Anelka opened the scoring. Juliano Belletti's long pass allowed the striker to break Wigan's offside trap, with Titus Bramble guilty of playing him on, and he volleyed past Chris Kirkland for his first goal for the club.

Always a willing worker, Anelka created the second with eight minutes left, nudging Kilbane to get to Paulo Ferreira's clearance and unselfishly squaring for Shaun Wright-Phillips to beat Kirkland from just inside the area to double the lead.

Wigan did apply some late pressure. Substitute Antoine Sibierski pulled one back in some style, holding off a challenge from Belletti with his back to goal and lashing in from 20 yards on the turn, and then Bent hit the bar in added time.

Following tabloid revelations about Ashley Cole's private life over the last few days, Grant insisted the England left-back would be back training today despite not travelling to the JJB Stadium. Grant said: "I don't need to explain about every player who is not in he squad. We have a big squad and sometimes between Ashley and Wayne I rotate between them.

"I also want to rotate between other players but I don't have too many options, so sometimes when Ashley is not playing we don't need him on the pitch.

"Ashley and all the other players will be back in training on Monday. Everybody will be available, so eight or nine players will not be in the squad next week.

"They may change tactically but every game we want to win and in the cup we want to be in the next round."

However, he then seemed to contradict himself, saying: "If I were to rest players, the press officer would be playing - we only have 13 or 14 players available. We want to rotate, we want to give players a rest but we have a very small squad now.

"At the moment, I am not hoping to do any more business this January, but who knows?"