Grant insists Chelsea have the title in their hands

Speaking ahead of Manchester United's 2-1 victory over Arsenal yesterday, he claimed there was no team 'stronger' than Chelsea who, he insisted, deserved to win the title because they had overcome so many

'We are at the end of the season, we have come so far and we are so close and we don't want to miss it,'

said Grant. 'I think, if we win every game, we will win the title. It is not easy to win all your games. I don't think Manchester United and Arsenal can do it.'

Chelsea will close the gap on United if they follow up a victory this evening with another success at Everton on Thursday in a game controversially moved forward for live TV.

United then travel to Blackburn on Saturday before what could be the crunch fixture at Stamford Bridge on April 26.

'If I am not positive in this position then it is time for me to quit,' said Grant. 'I will not say we are the best in the world, even if we want to be, but I don't see another team stronger than us when we have all our players.'

Grant is proud of the way his team have soldiered on through a campaign plagued by injuries and disrupted by the departure of Jose Mourinho and four of his backroom team.

'Arsenal played very well until one or two players got injured. You can see it is not easy to play without injured players,' said Grant.

'This has been a very difficult year for us. I don't know if other clubs could do what we've done with all the injuries we've had to big players, with the Africa Cup of Nations, with all the problems we had.

'Our situation was not easy in September. The team weren't playing well and we needed to chase the big clubs.

'We did all this and came through to the last stage with a very good opportunity to win two things. We don't want to miss it. We deserve it after all the problems we have had this year.'

One final puzzle for Grant to solve is his goalkeeping crisis, but Petr Cech is preparing to make a rapid return from a facial injury which required 50 stitches. Carlo Cudicini is out for four weeks with a hamstring injury which effectively ends his season. Chelsea's only other options are Henrique Hilario and 18-year-old Rhys Taylor.

Cech trained yesterday and has tried out a protective mask, which he may wear to prevent further damage to the wound.