Blackburn Rovers 0 Chelsea 1

CHELSEA coach Avram Grant faces a Christmas injury crisis he hopes will not wreck his team's bid for the Premier League title.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech limped out of the Blues' 1-0 win at Blackburn - courtesy of a 22nd-minute strike from Joe Cole - with a side strain, joining captain John Terry and striker Didier Drogba on the sidelines.

It means for the second successive Christmas, Chelsea go into the festive programme without a number of their key players.

At this stage last season, with Cech, Terry and Joe Cole on the sidelines, Chelsea dropped six points with successive draws with Reading, Fulham and Aston Villa that effectively led to them missing out on a third straight championship.

With Grant's side currently six points adrift of leaders Arsenal and five behind second-placed Manchester United, Chelsea cannot afford a similar run on this occasion, otherwise the title race will become a two-horse affair.

Cech will undergo a scan on his hip injury that resulted in his withdrawal just after the hour after he tried to play on following an accidental 48th-minute collision with Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz.

We will know the situation with Petr tomorrow when he goes for scans,'' confirmed Grant last night, who also has reserve Carlo Cudicini out for a few days with a rib injury sustained in training.

We need to wait and see (on Cudicini) because with this type of injury it is a matter of time sometimes.'' Referring to Cech, Grant added: I wanted to take him off, but he told me he wanted five minutes more to see if the injury would improve I cannot say it will be easy if we lose Cech. To play for so long with so many injured for a long time, I don't like it.

But I cannot do anything about it. It's fact, and we need to get through it as soon as possible like we have done in the last three months.'' If Cech and Cudicini are sidelined for the Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, Hilario will take over in goal as he did for the closing 30 minutes at Ewood Park.

He made an initial gaffe in missing a David Bentley corner that allowed Santa Cruz a free header that finished a yard wide.

But he redeemed himself moments later with a stunning save as the same combination linked up again, with Bentley supplying Santa Cruz from the left wing.

Grant, though, was delighted Hilario came through what was his first appearance since January 13.

It was difficult for Hilario to come into a game like this, but he did very well, and in the end he made a very good save,'' added Grant.

Overall, I'm very happy. I cannot say we played one of our better games, but I was happy with the fighting spirit.

It was important to take the three points, especially after all our rivals won this weekend.'' It was Chelsea's seventh win in nine league visits to a Blackburn side who have now lost their last four games and taken just five points from the last 24 on offer.

Manager Mark Hughes said: We showed real quality, especially in the first half.

Our play was really dynamic, with David (Bentley) in a position just off the front causing them problems.

In that period we created good chances, hitting the bar a couple of times, when on another day they go in."