Chelsea boss Avram Grant spelt out that he is in charge after leaving Andriy Shevchenko on the bench for yesterday's win at Bolton Wanderers.

"They pay me to be in charge," said the Israeli.

"I have to be in charge. I make the decisions for the present and for the future. Sheva is trying hard and I'm sure he will be good again for Chelsea."

But how does he square it with Abramovich? Shevchenko is the owner's best chum, after all.

"When I got the job at Chelsea, no one says I had to pick a friend of Peter Kenyon or a friend of Simon Greenberg (Chelsea's director of communications)," said Grant with a wry smile.

"Simon even said there was someone he wanted to play. But I'm in charge of the team and I make decisions for the good of Chelsea."