Eriksson says Chelsea boss Grant can win the lot and silence his critics

So the views of former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson on Avram Grant are worth knowing.

After seeing Grant's team deepen his own worries at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday, Eriksson was asked if criticism of the Chelsea manager had become personal.

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City's boss said: "I have experience of this myself. I hope he's stronger than that because who could care less, really? I think he's doing a great job. He's a good man. It's never easy to be a manager fighting for two titles. Now and then you lose a match, of course.

"Chelsea have a good chance in the Champions League. They need to turn around the result from Turkey but they will do that. Unfortunately for him, he's in charge of a team who almost have to win every game. It's the same with United and I suppose it's the same with Arsenal.

"With these teams, the expectations are so big. You have to fight for the league, for European Cups, but Chelsea are doing very well — they have a chance to win everything."

Chelsea won with some comfort against a fading team. Eriksson's men were much better than they had been in losing at Birmingham a week earlier and went close on several occasions.

Nevertheless, the clinical and incisive football was largely played by Chelsea and they won thanks to an early own goal from City captain Richard Dunne and a second-half effort from Salomon Kalou.

With leaders Manchester United drawing 2-2 at Middlesbrough yesterday, Chelsea are three points behind and remain second favourites to win the Barclays Premier League.

Nevertheless, it is sometimes hard to see why Grant has not been accepted by many Chelsea fans. Perhaps it is their enduring affection for his predecessor.

Eriksson added: "There's a big difference in terms of personality between Jose Mourinho and Grant, but I know both and I like them both.

"It's always dangerous to criticise managers. Let's wait until the season has finished. I wish we had only lost two league games."

Grant remains sanguine about his situation. Having been criticised for team selections, he was brave enough to make changes again as he looked to protect players ahead of tomorrow's home game against Fenerbahce.

Didier Drogba, for example, was not even in the 16 and there was no starting place for Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole or Michael Ballack.

On this occasion, Grant was vindicated as Nicolas Anelka played the prominent role in forcing Dunne into his early mistake and was game's best player. How City goalkeeper Joe Hart touched his late header on to the crossbar remains a mystery.

Asked if Chelsea may be closer to United had they started the season better under Mourinho, Grant said: "What answer can I give? I don't know. You always believe in yourself. You need to do your own job and I don't want to look back, because it's a fact that we lost a lot of points at the beginning and needed to chase other teams. I don't like to answer yes or no. I don't know if 89 points will be enough, but I have to believe it will be."

Chelsea's season remains very much alive. City's is less so. A run of three wins in 16 league games has taken the sheen off Eriksson's debut season and he must hope his team finish brightly if he is to avoid a difficult chat with club owner Thaksin Shinawatra this summer.

What City desperately need is a goalscorer. January signing Benjani does not look the answer.

Brazil superstar Ronaldinho is unlikely to arrive, but Eriksson knows he must find a solution.

He added: "Benjani worked very hard today. A week ago I was disappointed and worried because the Birmingham defeat was not good enough or professional enough. But today I can't say that."