Avram Grant admits Andriy Shevchenko is struggling to recover from the shock of being benched by Jose Mourinho.
Shevchenko has failed to live up to his ?30 million (US$61.6 million) price tag since his move from AC Milan last year and Mourinho quickly lost patience with the Ukraine striker.
One of Grant's main roles when he joined Chelsea as director of football in pre-season was to bring the best out of Shevchenko, but Mourinho was unimpressed by his form and opted to continue leaving him out.
Mourinho has since departed and Grant has taken over, but Shevchenko is still stuck on the sidelines at Stamford Bridge.
The 31-year-old has been reduced to a bit part role, scoring only once this season and making occasional cameo appearances.
Grant believes his nightmare spell may well have taken its toll on Shevchenko's mental and physical well-being and therefore affected his performances.
The Israeli denied Chelsea have appointed former British Olympic sprinter Darren Campbell to help Shevchenko regain his spark but insisted the club have been trying to help.
"I prefer only to say that he was not at his best from the beginning of the year but there are many reasons for this," Grant said.
"You never know if it is because of the mental side that the player doesn't look so good in the physical side, or if it has come from the physical side. Sometimes it is both," he said.
"We are talking about professional players. They need to handle everything. We are not baby-sitters of the players," Grant said.
"We tried to help him as we try to help other players. But the players feel they need to help themselves. We have a big squad and we will need everybody, including Andriy Shevchenko," he said.
Grant still believes Shevchenko can recapture the form that made him the most feared striker in Europe.
"Andriy was a very good player and he is still a very good player, even if he is not playing now," he said. "I know from my experience there are some periods when players are not at their best, but it doesn't mean they are finished."
Another player who has struggled recently is Shaun Wright-Phillips and the coach insists he cannot give any guarantees about his future at Chelsea.
Grant left Wright-Phillips out of his squad for the Schalke match, fuelling reports that the England winger was unhappy at Chelsea.
Manchester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson has made it clear he would love to bring Wright-Phillips back to Eastlands if the Blues decide to sell him.
Grant acknowledges Wright-Phillips is bound to be unhappy that he is not playing but, while he has no immediate intention to sell him, there is no way he can say for certain he will get back into the team.
"Sometimes during the season players are not happy if they are not playing," Grant said. "That is reasonable to me but any player at Chelsea needs to be ready."
Grant is adamant he will only make minimal changes in the January transfer window.
"I am very happy with the squad. Even if we changed it will be only five or 10 percent. Maybe we will but I'm not thinking about it at the moment," he said.
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