Avram Grant backing Nicolas Anelka to prove his class

The signing of Anelka, a proven top-flight goalscorer, was hailed as a coup by many when he joined from Bolton for £15 million, yet his tally of one league goal has made Andriy Shevchenko look prolific and he has yet to score at home for his new club.

The 29-year-old is expected to start in place of the injured Didier Drogba at Everton tonight and Grant will be praying that his finishing prowess returns for a game now crucial to Chelsea's title hopes.

While Anelka has clearly made a contribution to build-up play when he is in the team - he has his fair share of assists - his inability to find the net on a regular basis is of concern.

In Chelsea's costly 1-1 draw with Wigan on Monday night, for example, he sent a free header well wide of the post in the opening minutes. He also started and failed to deliver in two of Chelsea's worst defeats of the season - the Carling Cup loss to Tottenham and their FA Cup humiliation at Barnsley.

Anelka's situation isn't helping Grant win over the more critical fans, who see him as struggling to get the best from his one major signing - as well as the squad he inherited from Jose Mourinho.

But Grant is standing by his big acquisition and insists it is too early to judge the former Real Madrid and Arsenal striker.

He said: "I don't think he should be judged after a couple of months. Even if Nicolas was our best player for a couple of months it doesn't mean anything, we need to see what he does in all his years at the club.

"I think Nicolas's impact has been very good since he came to Chelsea. When he has played we have usually scored more than one goal.

"I think before he came the amount of goals we scored wasn't as good and even though we scored only once against Wigan, we created a lot of chances and he was part of the reason for that.

"He is a different type of striker, he knows how to score, but also create goals. I am very happy with him.

"He shouldn't be compared to other strikers at the club. We have four and they are all different from each other."

But former Blues defender Scott Minto believes Anelka has much to do before he can be considered value for money.

He said: "When Anelka first came he made a very big impact and everyone was saying he was an excellent signing.

"Nothing has made me think differently, but it is disappointing he hasn't got more goals.

"Fifteen million pounds is a lot of money and he missed a few chances against Wigan that he would have hoped to score from. But he can handle the pressure and his signing is not just about this season. I am sure he will be better next season.

"Many players who arrive in January struggle to make a big impact because they have to get used to a new way of playing and team-mates."

It could be argued that because Anelka has had to play second fiddle to Didier Drogba he hasn't had the chance to build up much rhythm.

But a lack of regular football doesn't seem to bother him too much. Only a few days ago, the French international admitted that he is not upset about being rotated, although he is hopeful of being used in a 4-4-2 formation next season.

Many Chelsea supporters have questioned why Grant hasn't paired Drogba and Anelka up front together more often, particularly as it worked to such good affect against Arsenal last month when the latter came off the bench with 20 minutes to go to help turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.

But Minto feels Grant has no choice but to stick with the current tactics given the proximity to the end of the season.

He added: "Anelka played up front briefly with Drogba against Arsenal and it appeared to work, but it would be a big risk for Grant to change the team's style at this late stage. He would also have to drop one of the midfielders and which one would you leave out?"

What is certain is that Grant will make changes in the summer - if he remains in the job. Indeed, he may have no choice if Drogba decides to leave.

However, Chelsea need Anelka to score goals now if they are to overhaul Manchester United's five-point lead at the top of the table with just four games to go and Grant has not given up hope.

To help Anelka's cause the manager today admitted he is ready to switch tactics - if and when circumstances allow. Grant said: "From day one I said we'd play 4-3-3 and know other systems too. Players understand tactics more than they did before and we can't just use one system."