Daring Grant revelling in the attention of title deciding cauldron against Manchester United

He sauntered off Pitch Three at Chelsea's swish Surrey training centre at midday yesterday and swaggered in for a pre-match briefing to suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson's side are spent.

Fergie will be furious. How dare he? Well, dare he did. Grant has Manchester United sussed, or so he would have you believe.

He was unflappable, piling the pressure on a United team distracted by the prospect of a 10th Barclays Premier League title in 16 attempts and poking Mike Dean, the referee who sent off John Mikel Obi at Old Trafford, in the eye for good measure.

So where was the man who usually fluffs his best (and only) lines? He was nowhere to be seen yesterday, that is for sure. "United have drawn twice in their last three games because we put this pressure on them," claimed the Chelsea manager.

"It's not going to be easy but now we need to do our job. I'm always optimistic that we will win the title. We have improved since we lost at Old Trafford.

"It was my first game in charge but we didn't play badly. We lost to the referee. Remember the red card and the extra-time before half-time (when Carlos Tevez scored)? I remember it."

So do we, Avram, so do we. Especially when you remind everyone every week. "Then there was the penalty that wasn't a penalty. There were a few strange decisions in that game. I don't like speaking about referees most of the time but in this case I remember him.

"I always expect a fair referee, which we didn't have at United. Referees can make mistakes but to make so many against one team was very strange."

Vintage Mouri . . . sorry, Grant. He looked as though he had been at it for years, conveniently forgetting that Chelsea have somehow crept back into this title race. Raise a glass to Arsene Wenger: Chin up, old boy.

Grant is on the up, no question. United's draw at Blackburn last weekend and John Arne Riise's remarkable own goal at Anfield have seen to that.

They are fortunate even to be in this title race but fortune favours the brave. Both teams will observe a minute's silence in honour of Frank Lampard's mother Pat, who died on Thursday, and then they will go into combat.

Grant said: "Frank hasn't trained with us but I can tell you that all our thoughts are with him. We are a close family at Chelsea and all our sympathies are with Frank and his family.

"We just want to make sure that, when Frank comes back, we are still fighting. Football is important but there are things that are more important."

The League title will be the furthest thing from Lampard's thoughts, but the grieving process will be respectfully put to one side at 12.45pm.

Chelsea are 80 games unbeaten at Stamford Bridge and victory over United will take them level on points. After that, it is a straight fight to the finish line.

West Ham travel to Old Trafford next weekend and Chelsea will be at born-again Newcastle. Eight days later, Chelsea host Bolton and 20,000 United supporters will descend on Wigan's JJB Stadium.

"What you have seen up to now is a team that have come from fifth to second place, showed a lot of spirit and mounted a good recovery, sometimes from a difficult situation," added Grant.

"It's difficult to beat us. I hope to have weeks like this all my life. It's an exciting week and we have worked hard to get to this situation. Now we want to enjoy it.

"I'm very proud of my players and staff for what we did. When you are behind and when the team have lost so many points, it is vital."

Fighting talk, then, for a man who is still fighting for his job. He knows all about the attacking instincts of Cristiano Ronaldo — who will be crowned PFA Player of the Year tomorrow — Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Nani.

That front five can score goals at will and Grant has been working on a way to stop them. "They are a proud team, they are in first place and they will come to Stamford Bridge knowing that we're still in the fight.

"They will try to do what they always try to do. I'm not surprised they have scored more goals. We have had our top scorers injured for many months and if they had been fit, we would have scored more goals.

"In a game like this, with the tactics of Manchester United and Chelsea, there are no surprises. We know their players and they know us. I think I know how they will play but I will keep that to myself. United are a good team but they are a team who can also lose."

If they do, Grant will be in line for manager of the year. Perish the thought.