Chelsea rode their luck with a gritty performance which saw them come away from Blackburn with a 1-0 victory.

This was the Blues 600th league game and they had to grind out a result against a resilient Rovers team who pushed them hard all the way.

Looking shaky in defence with the absence of John Terry they had to weather a torrid opening twenty minutes when the home side hit the cross bar and had chances to open the scoring.

But Joe Cole gave them a lifeline when he scored against the run of play on 21 minutes and they even survived a Steven Reid shot against the woodwork just before the break.

Chelsea showed great character in the second half to survive the last 27 minutes without goalkeeper Petr Cech who went off with a side strain, and substitute Hilario kept them in the game with a fine one handed save from Roque Santa Cruz.

Chelsea have now eleven clean sheets in the Premiership this campaign but boss Avram Grant knows they had to work hard today to prevent Blackburn finding the back of the net.

"I'm very happy with the result even if it wasn't one of our better games but it isn't easy coming here particularly after they drew zero, zero at our home.

"I'm happy for the win and for the fighting spirit shown and we even created a couple of chances although Hilario also made a good save.

"It was very important to get three points especially after all the other top teams also won."