Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0:Tottenham are not unfamiliar with slinking away from Stamford Bridge beaten and bowed and the search for positives has often taken in straws and clutching. Yet in the aftermath of Saturday's reverse there was a silver lining in Ledley King's continued progress towards form and fitness.

Although the optimist could make a case for Aaron Lennon, who caught the eye with several bursts, it was King's performance that stood out and it offered Juande Ramos, the Spurs manager, a degree of assurance as he assessed the defensive rebuilding job in front of him. Wholesale change is in the air at White Hart Lane. The Spaniard has run out of patience with Paul Robinson, the England goalkeeper, whom he left on the bench again; he is also happy to replace the right back Pascal Chimbonda while his move for Dani Jarque, the Espanyol centre half, raises questions about Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul. Gareth Bale, who is sidelined with a serious foot injury, may have his future higher up the pitch than the left back position.

Caution remains the watchword with King, who has played five matches since his return on St Stephen's Day from the knee surgery he had last June. He was substituted in the first two and rested at Aston Villa on New Year's Day.

"We don't want to give him too many minutes on the pitch to force his knee too much," said Ramos. "I'm not worried at all that the knee still isn't right. The only thing is, if he plays too many minutes it could inflame but it's coming on nicely. Little by little he is coming back to his best form."

King's experience is vital; his pace and capacity to read the game bring stability.

Chelsea created little until the introduction of debutant Nicolas Anelka, who completed his transfer from Bolton Wanderers on Friday, and Ramos was left to lament his stand-in goalkeeper Radek Cerny being beaten from distance. Juliano Belletti strolled forward and, in the absence of a Tottenham challenge, the Brazilian was tempted to try his luck from 30 yards. Cerny was slow to get across and the ball found in the top right-hand corner of the net.

Shaun Wright-Phillips's 20-yard shot fizzed past Cerny's other hand and the midfielder, who played in an unfamiliar central role, earned Avram Grant's praises. "We moved Shaun inside because we are short in the squad and we want a more attacking midfield," said the Chelsea manager. "It was a great week for him not only for the goals he scored (after his effort against Everton in the League Cup semi-final) but for the job he did in midfield. He worked hard, passed the ball well and showed good movements. He was excellent."

Although Chelsea have the reserves to cope when injuries, suspensions and the African Cup of Nations strike, Tottenham do not. Shorn of Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone and Didier Zokora, Ramos started Kevin-Prince Boateng in central midfield for Spurs but saw the game pass him by. Chelsea missed Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Mikel Jon Obi but Claude Makelele stepped up to dominate in front of his defence.

Ramos wants to strengthen in defensive midfield and would love to prise Lassana Diarra from Arsenal while he also knows David Albelda is available from Valencia. If the remainder of the month points towards a flurry of activity, Ramos's principal concern will be to keep King fit.

Grant insisted he could not have asked for any more from new €19.8 million signing Anelka. He revealed he had no plans to use the striker but an injury to Claudio Pizarro during the 2-0 win forced him to introduce Anelka into the action. Anelka was denied a debut goal by a fine save from Spurs goalkeeper Cerny and later the woodwork.

Grant said: "We are very short of strikers, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are in Africa and Andriy Shevchenko is injured. Pizarro got injured so we had to use him. Anelka played without having one training session with us. He very quickly got into the style of the team and was part of the game. He hit the bar one time and the goalkeeper made a good save from him. So you cannot ask any more from his first performance. But we didn't plan to use him."

Chelsea are now closing in on the leaders and with injured players like captain John Terry, Frank Lampard plus their African Nations Cup contingent to return, they are looking real title contenders again.