Birmingham 0 Chelsea 1:Joe Cole is confident Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro will have a big impact during the second half of the season after ending his five-month scoring drought in the English Premier League.
The Peru international, signed from Bayern Munich in the summer, opened his account on the opening day of the campaign in the 3-2 win over Birmingham at Stamford Bridge.
But he had to wait until the return meeting with City at St Andrews on Saturday to double his league tally with a late headed winner from Juliano Belletti's corner.
It kept Avram Grant's side on the heels of Manchester United and Arsenal and they have now collected 16 points from their last six games.
Cole said: "I'm so glad for Pizzo (Pizarro). He needed that goal. I'm pleased for him and he deserves it because he has been working hard.
"I am pleased because he is a great player. That will give him a lift. Pizzo is a top international player. He has played for Bayern Munich for years and years so we know what he can do.
"It does take time sometimes to adjust when you come into the Premier League. He has good qualities which are different to the other strikers we've got. He is a bit like Eidur Gudjohnsen in some respects but he gives us options. Hopefully he will kick on now. I am sure he will. No one is questioning him. He is a great player."
Cole was honest enough to admit Chelsea were fortunate to have collected all three points against Birmingham, but praised the resilience of the side in the face of several injuries and players being on African Nations Cup duty.
He said: "It was a really tough game. We didn't play well in the first half but I thought in the second half we did enough to win the game. We were our own worst enemy at times. We were making a lot of mistakes, which is not like us.
"I think we got away with it a little bit and we need to play better but a great goal by Pizzo plus great resilience meant we got the three points, which is what matters.
"We'd played well the previous two games. Maybe a bit of complacency crept in and we got away with it. We will be looking for a better performance against Everton in midweek (in the English League Cup)."
Cole also had words of consolation for Birmingham and believes there is enough quality in their side to escape relegation.
He added: "Alex McLeish has got them very well organised. We had a couple of counterattacks and Maik Taylor made a couple of saves but we needed a setpiece to settle it.
"I would back Birmingham to stay up. They have got enough, especially with the players they have brought in. James McFadden is going to score goals. Their boys up front are a handful. I'm backing them to stay in the league."
McLeish took consolation from the performance of the former Juventus striker Olivier Kapo, who was a constant threat to the Chelsea defence, and is keen not to sell him.
The former Scotland boss said: "Olivier has got flashes of brilliance in his game and he is looking fit and strong. He is a terrific player when he is in that kind of mood.
"He was troubled by some irritation to his knee and missed a couple of games. We got him scanned, he went back to France, then all of a sudden he appeared at training one day and it looked as if he meant business.
"That was the week leading up to the Arsenal game. He had a great week in training and we had no hesitation in putting him back in for his class and his quality.
"We don't have to let him go and, unless it is an exceptional bid, I don't see why we have to let players of his quality go."
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)