Avram Grant may be facing the first crisis of his managerial career at Stamford Bridge, but Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, believes that Chelsea are still firmly in the title race and just as capable of winning the Champions League.

At a time when Grant’s position has come under scrutiny, not only as a consequence of the Chelsea first-team coach’s troubled attempts to acquire the Uefa Pro Licence he needs to continue managing in the Barclays Premier League, but also as he struggles to keep a large squad happy, Ferguson’s remarks could almost be considered a vote of confidence in the Israeli. Either that, or an attempt to pile the pressure on Grant.

Although Chelsea trail Arsenal, the league leaders, by nine points, and United by six, Grant’s team have a game in hand. And with Arsenal and United still having to visit Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea are unbeaten in the league in 75 matches, Ferguson is convinced that it remains very much a three-horse race.

“The number of points they are behind Arsenal is not insurmountable by any manner because in this Premier League points can be dropped,” the United manager said. “The fact that they have got us and Arsenal at home and their home record is so good, you would have to think they have still got a big chance.”

Ferguson believes Chelsea’s main aim this season, however, is to win the Champions League and he thinks that the West London club have probably the best chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the four English teams left in the competition, even though Liverpool and United are in a stronger position in their respective ties against Inter Milan and Lyons.

While Liverpool take a 2-0 lead to Milan for the second leg of their first knockout-round tie against the Italian champions on March 11, and United entertain Lyons at Old Trafford on Tuesday having scored what could be a vital away goal in their 1-1 draw last week, Chelsea played out a stalemate against Olympiacos in Greece.

“The Champions League, which I think is what they are really after given [Romas] Abramovich’s contribution to Chelsea’s rise, is within their grasp, too,” Ferguson said. “They have got the easiest draw of the English teams and have got the best chance of qualifying out of the four of us given the opponents they are up against.”

Albeit wary of the threat posed by Chelsea, Ferguson has a lot of faith in his own players as they pursue a tenth Premier League title and believes that their quality could help to set them apart from their rivals. “The players have that joy of being at a club with a lot of ambition,” he said. “They’ve come to a massive club, so you can expect enthusiasm.

“We work hard at making sure that they [the players] are relaxed . . . with a responsibility to use their talents all the time to express themselves. We’re fortunate that with the kind of talents we have got, it is easier for them than a lot of other players, because they are exceptional talents.”

As United prepare to face Fulham at Craven Cottage in the league tomorrow, Ferguson said that other managers could do worse than follow the lead of Roy Hodgson by managing abroad and revealed that, had he not been in charge of such a successful club as United, he might have worked overseas himself.

“Roy Hodgson is very fortunate, he has done what a lot of us would have loved to have done — work abroad,” Ferguson said. “Working in different climates with different cultures definitely broadens your education.

“Sometimes I used to say to myself, ‘I’d love to have tried [managing] abroad some time.’ My choices were cut off simply because I was manager of Manchester United, and you don’t leave.”