No Drogba, no problem says Grant but toothless display against Valencia raises questions

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Going 50 games unbeaten at home in all competitions is admirable. But Chelsea's toothless display against a Valencia side devoid of ambition did nothing to suggest that coping without Didier Drogba will be easy.

In the Premier League this season Chelsea have scored almost twice as many goals when Drogba has been in in the side than when he has been an absentee.

And with Ivory Coast striker Drogba unlikely to turn out for his club before departing for the African Cup of Nations, they are set to be without him for two months.

Given that, the decision to withdraw Shevchenko at the break rather than hand him a full 90-minute work-out in a meaningless game ahead of Sunday's vital visit to Arsenal seemed odd.

Manager Grant insisted it had always been the plan.

"It was a decision taken beforehand. We have three games in eight days and many more to come, so we took a decision about Shevchenko and Lampard that they would not play 90 minutes. Maybe with the chances we had in the second half he could have scored but it was more important to keep his physical condition."

Bridling at suggestions his side will flounder without Drogba, Grant added: "We want Didier to play but we've also won games without him. Tonight we played great football and deserved to win 5-0."

If Drogba had been on the park they probably would have. Shevchenko spurned a decent chance just four minutes in. But a combination of poor finishing and the evergreen talents of veteran keeper Santiago Canizares were enough to keep Shaun Wright-Phillips, Claudio Pizarro and Frank Lampard from opening the scoring in the opening half hour.

As for Valencia, the combined attacking talents of Fernando Morientes, David Villa and Vicente had not managed a goal for a staggering 351 minutes before last night.

And the limp nature of Villa's and the Spanish side's first shot on goal did little to suggest that figure would not be increased by another 90.

With the first half petering out, Villa did at least force the returning Petr Cech to concede a corner before another tame effort from Shevchenko was easily gathered at the other end by Canizares.

In a bid to find more of a cutting edge, Grant switched to 4-3-3 at the break, replacing the increasingly ineffective Shevchenko with Claude Makelele.

Valencia were forced into a change of their own five minutes later when Villa, the best of a bad bunch, limped out and was replaced by Javier Arizmendi.

And with Group B rivals Schalke winning comfortably at home against Rosenborg to deny the Spanish side the chance of even a place in the UEFA Cup, what little fight they had shown soon disintegrated, particularly as Chelsea skipper John Terry was in his usual no-nonsense mood.

With the game played like a pre-season friendly, Grant withdrew Lampard for Joe Cole - tormentor-in-chief of Valencia in their previous meeting.

Chelsea did finally manage to put the ball in the net, but Pizarro delayed his pass a fraction too long and Kalou was half a yard offside when he stroked the ball home.

Kalou then hit the underside of the bar from six yards after Cole's free-kick was headed across goal by substitute Juliano Belletti. Cole tested Canizares again, the 37-year-old keeper tipping his effort on to the post.

Chelsea, of course, had already secured top spot, a feat Grant should be rightly proud of after picking up the reins from Jose Mourinho.

"It is a good feeling to finish top of the group, I like it," said Grant. "It's no secret that we want to be in the final. I think we can do it."

Given that Drogba will be back from international duty by the time the competition resumes, making the Champions League Final remains a realistic target.

Whether in his absence Chelsea can stay in the Premier League title race is another matter.