Birmingham City 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 Barclays 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 mid-week (in the Carling 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.

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."