Don't mess it up Avram: Revenge at Spurs vital in hunt for title prize

What a week that turned out to be for the Chelsea manager.

Title charge: Grant and Chelsea have bounced back since their Carling Cup defeat to Spurs

Tottenham had beaten them in the Carling Cup Final and Grant's potential replacements — Barcelona's Frank Rijkaard among them — were being lined up by critics to succeed Chelsea's amiable yet hugely uninspiring manager.

Nicolas Anelka had been shunted out to the left to accommodate Didier Drogba in the final, German captain Michael Ballack was on the bench and England's Joe Cole was there to keep him company.

Jonathan Woodgate won it and Grant appeared to have lost it. 'I don't think I made mistakes with my selection,' said the unrepentant Chelsea boss.

'It's just one more bad day in the life of a team. We went in to the game with a very strong team. We played with Essien, Mikel and Lampard in midfield. Wright-Phillips had been our best player in the semi.

'Drogba and Anelka are great strikers, we had a great defence and it was a good selection.'

Sticking to his guns is one thing, but the sight of John Terry taking the team talk before the start of the second period of extra-time is another. Chelsea's manager was overawed and Tottenham took advantage. On Wednesday, the Chelsea manager gets the chance to set the record straight at White Hart Lane.

Grant does not have what it takes to win a big game, or so the theory goes. He was almost Mourinhoesque on Tuesday when he momentarily took leave of his senses and absolved himself of any blame for defeats against Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and, infamously, Barnsley.

'If you call Barnsley a big match — on paper it wasn't a big match,' he claimed. 'I had only been in the job one day when we lost at Manchester United.'

It was actually four, but who's counting?

'We lost at Arsenal due to a big mistake but they were not better than us,' he added. 'When you win against Tottenham in the league it's reasonable. When we lose against them in the Carling Cup, it's a big match. I accept that's our life. I'm sure if we beat Tottenham it will be reasonable. If we lose, it will be a big match.'

Suddenly, this is a big match. Forget revenge for the manner of their defeat in the Carling Cup Final. Now the Barclays Premier League title is their target. Victory would take Grant's team level on points with Arsenal. Unthinkable a month or so ago, but Chelsea's charge began after they were beaten at Wembley.

They responded with a 4-0 win at West Ham, beat Derby 6-1 in the following league game and Terry's header at the Stadium of Light was enough to see off Sunderland last Saturday.

'We won many games at the right time,' added Grant. 'We're back. We were in the race all the time but now it is more clear. It has been a strange season for us. Some important players got injured and then some of the others went to the Africa Cup of Nations. In that time we actually won a lot of games to put us in a position where we can do good things.

'The team has shown how tough they are and we won't change our mentality. Most of the time we succeed.'

Chelsea remain third, but joint second on points alongside Arsenal beckons. And Spurs have taken their foot off the gas following their success in the Carling Cup Final— a win that secured European football.

Manager Juande Ramos admitted: 'We are at home and we will be trying our best to get a victory but obviously there is much more at stake for Chelsea because of their league position than there is for us.'

'They will be trying hard to get all three points because they want to be champions but we are at home and it is important to perform well in front of their fans.'

They are up against a team with title ambitions. If Grant manages to pull this off it would certainly guarantee his long-term future at the helm.

He will be moved upstairs and replaced by a world-class manager if he fails but Grant claims he has nothing to fear from Roman Abramovich.

'We don't bring our friendship to the club,' he added. 'When we speak about the team we do not bring friendship to it. It's totally separate.

'When I got the job my only concern was to make Chelsea better and to follow the vision of the club. I've done what I could to go that way — even when we have had problems — and it's easy.

'If he ever sacks me I think he will still be my friend.'