Frank lacks a Spencer

Chelsea 1 Spencer 55 Nottingham Forest 0 Attendance: 24,48

STUDENTS of form would not have had high expectations of this game, given the dour durability which both Chelsea and Forest - once regarded as being on the brittle side - have shown in the past three months. But despite this, and their midweek exertions in the FA Cup, the teams contributed a fast and open game which gradually blossomed into life.

That Chelsea won was partly due to the continuing sharpness of John Spencer, who registered his fourth goal in six matches, but also to Forest's threadbare attack. In 10 of their last 13 games, Forest have had to settle for one goal, and once they fell behind here their efforts to draw level verged on the frantic.

If they are to make further progress in their two Cup competitions - they have a Uefa Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich in March - Frank Clark may have to dip into whatever is left of the Collymore deposit account to revitalise his attack. Chelsea, however, are marrying consistency to resilience. "I knew we'd probably have to grind out a result," manager Glenn Hoddle said, conceding he had invited his team to "play in spells".

The initial effect of this tactic - leaving Mark Hughes alone up front - was to neutralise the game, as Chelsea passed the ball among themselves and Forest covered like guard dogs.

But, in the 15 minutes either side of the interval, Chelsea asserted sufficient pressure to unpick the Forest defence. Their penetration was down the right, where Dan Petrescu had another impressive game.

The Romanian had already combined with Dennis Wise to get dangerous crosses in, the second of which was met by Spencer with a volley which forced a fine save from Mark Crossley. Moments later, the third such move saw Mark Hughes rising at the far post to head over Crossley, but Colin Cooper completed an acrobatic goal-line clearance.

Forest neglected to cover their left flank, and when Petrescu crossed again 11 minutes into the second half, Spencer volleyed a curling shot low past Crossley.

Forest's poor strike-rate made them long odds to get back into the game and their best efforts were from the free-kicks referee Jeff Winter sprinkled around together with seven yellow cards.

By the end though Forest had Stuart Pearce and even goalkeeper Crossley lumping "Hail Mary" high balls into the Chelsea box. But this time there was no redemption.