Grant's back is firmly to the wall

SOCCER:WHEN CHELSEA formed their guard of honour for Manchester United at Stamford Bridge last May, it was more than a reciprocal gesture. Just as Alex Ferguson had intended 12 months previously, when his players clapped Chelsea, newly confirmed as the Premier League champions, on to the Old Trafford turf, so Jose Mourinho wanted everyone associated with the London club to remember the chastening experience. It had to be used as motivation to reclaim the title.

Mourinho has since departed and Avram Grant promoted in his stead but the nightmare scenario of United enjoying another championship party at Stamford Bridge has again presented itself.

There will be no pre-match guard on Saturday week. United cannot be crowned as champions before the game, come what may in Chelsea's fixture at Everton tomorrow night and their own at Blackburn Rovers this Saturday. Chelsea, meanwhile, remain confident, in public at least, that they can make the match, billed as the title decider, work for them.

Grant attempted to shrug off the disappointment of Monday's home draw with Wigan Athletic by claiming the result had not altered the picture "so much". Chelsea had to beat United regardless and also needed a favour from another team - Blackburn, West Ham United or Wigan.

That favour now needs to be a defeat of United rather than just a draw. And Blackburn do have an encouraging recent Premier League record at Ewood Park against United, having won three and drawn three of the past seven meetings.

Yet Chelsea's defiance seemed to be offered up on a wing and a prayer. Emile Heskey's injury-time equaliser for Wigan brought Grant's team down on the wrong side of the tightrope they have trodden in recent weeks. Their fall was shuddering and they must patch themselves up for Goodison Park, where Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are doubtful starters. Lampard will be given the time he needs with his seriously ill mother and Drogba's knee remains a problem.

United, by contrast, were energised after their victory from behind over Arsenal on Sunday. With the margins so fine, the momentum appears to reside at Old Trafford.

"The problem is that we don't have our destiny in our hands," said Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. "We have to hope that someone beats Manchester United and we must win all of our games to keep the pressure on.

"We have a difficult game at Everton but, if we beat them, it is down to two points. We need to keep the pressure on and hope. You never know.

"United were lucky against Arsenal, they could be unlucky against Blackburn or one of the other teams. All the teams in the Premier League have quality and that is why there is a possibility that they can drop some points."

Heskey's volley had barely swelled the net when the mob turned on Grant. Moments earlier Chelsea had enjoyed a let-off when the substitute Antoine Sibierski burst through, only to be denied by Cech. Wigan's equaliser had been signposted.

Grant claimed the home support needed "to respect the football we played in the second half", saying it was some of the best of the season, but it did not yield the desired result.

"Ask every Arsenal fan and player what they thought of the season," said Cech. "They played brilliant football and now they have to fight to stay third. The first half was not very good. In the second we created chances and played good football but we got punished at the end."

Despite his protestations to the contrary, Grant has struggled to play in a discernibly different style from Mourinho and with the elan demanded by the owner, Roman Abramovich. Nicolas Anelka apart, this remains Mourinho's team. Grant is a defence-minded coach, yet he failed to close out the game against Wigan. The penalty could be heavy.

"Chelsea's players slow the game down more," said Mario Melchiot, the Wigan captain and former Chelsea favourite. "They are slightly different in that way from Manchester United because United always try to keep their three strikers up front to finish the game.

"Chelsea sometimes get sucked in and drop a little bit. Maybe they do it tactically as well to create more space behind us. When we kept pushing up they were leaving one up front to see if they could spin off. If the ball was dropped right for Anelka or Kalou, they would have been away."

Melchiot played the bulk of his football at Chelsea under Claudio Ranieri and was moved on to Birmingham City a month after Mourinho took over.

"In our day Chelsea would finish you off," the defender said. "We were a team like that, more attacking. But those days have maybe changed a bit."

Grant has grown accustomed to the unflattering comparisons with Mourinho, but Ranieri? The Israeli and his team have their backs firmly to the wall.

Meanwhile, United's assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has warned his former club, Real Madrid, that not even €120 million would be enough to prise away Cristiano Ronaldo.

Madrid have long been admirers of the Portugal international, with Spanish media regularly linking the club with a big-money swoop for the 23-year-old winger. However, Queiroz, who spent a year in charge at the Bernabeu before returning to his former position United in 2004, insistedin Spanish newspaper Marca: "We would not sell him for €120 million."

Rio Ferdinand is understood to have provisionally agreed a new deal with the club that will keep him at Old Trafford for the next five years.