You see, despite dominating the Champions-elect for long periods, missed chances at one end and mistakes at the other, ensured the points eventually ended up where they were supposed to.

Drogba was the difference in a tight game

What’s so frustrating, is that it could so easily have been different.

Had Kevin Foley not needlessly wandered over to the left to get involved with a throw-in, we probably wouldn’t have been so easily cut open by Chelsea’s slick counterattack in the space he left behind, culminating in Didier Drogba’s opener.

Had Christophe Berra been stronger and not allowed a simple punt up field to become a through ball, a second goal for the visitors and for the imperious Drogba probably wouldn’t have arrived.

Had Petr Cech not made two outstanding saves to deny Guedioura and then Foley a priceless equaliser, the final scoreline could have been turned on it’s head.

But it’s all frustratingly hypothetical in the end and a less biased onlooker would almost certainly point out ‘that’s why they’re at the top and you’re struggling at the bottom’.

They’d be right too.

It was a performance full of guts, determination and no small amount of skill from Wolves, but ultimately it proved fruitless because of a handful of key moments, which is an all too painful reminder of how difficult life in the Premier League can be.

Speaking of cruelty, how many more dire refereeing performances will we be subjected to this season? Fortunately, the plethora of decisions wrongfully given against Wolves didn’t cost us, but it certainly didn’t aid our cause either. And how the linesman failed to spot a blatant elbow in the face of Adlene Guedioura from John Terry is beyond me. A no-questions sending off in my opinion. Chelsea fan’s would probably disagree, as they’re seemingly blind to any of Captain Fantastic’s wrong-doings.

Hardly surprising though that good old JT found it necessary to plant one on Guedioura, as the French midfielder once again laid down an impressive marker in his second home start. He must be one of the first names on the teamsheet for next weekend’s trip to the Reebok after another all-action display.

Doyle was once again at his superb best, ably supported from midfield by the clever passing of Jones and another livewire display from Jarvis.

At the back, I thought Zubar was brilliant, cutting out the sloppy errors and using his power and pace to good effect. There’s been a few calls from the Molineux faithful to restore Foley to his favoured right-back position, but I think that would be harsh on the enthusiastic Frenchman, who has all the attributes to be a star in this side. Perhaps he could be moved into the middle at the expense of the faltering Berra?

Most encouraging from yesterday’s display was the emerging feeling that this group of players have developed a clear understanding and seem comfortable with the roles they’re being asked to fulfill. That bodes well, even if it has taken us 26 games to achieve.

The general consensus seems to be that performances up to the standard of our last two games will be enough to keep us out of trouble.

You’d be hard pressed to disagree.

Essien scored twice at Stamford Bridge

Nothing was right about Wolves that day; strange tactics, odd team selection and horrendous individual errors cost us dearly. In truth, despite creating one or two good openings ourselves, we were lucky to escape with just a 4-0 defeat. 10-2 would probably have been a fairer reflection of the game.

I’m expecting much better this time.

For one thing, the team picks itself, which makes a nice change, so there shouldn’t be any nasty surprises:

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Ward

Foley
Henry
Guedioura
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle

The 4-5-1 formation also gives us a clear tactics and a proper game plan, which are essential for trying to get anything from a side boasting superior talent. Having that extra man in midfield certainly makes us a better defensive unit, so lets just hope it works as well against the league leaders as it did against Liverpool and Spurs.

Both sides have enjoyed a week off, which is particularly useful for Chelsea, as top sides rarely get such a lengthy break at the business end of a season. That probably doesn’t bode well.

On the injury front, Ashley Cole is out for them, which is good news. He’s been one of their better players of late and was a constant thorn in our side in the previous meeting between the sides. Essien has also been struggling and he was another player that completely dominated us at Stamford Bridge, so I wouldn’t be upset to see his name missing from their starting eleven.

But let’s not fool ourselves, whatever side Chelsea put out, we’re going to be stretched to our absolute limit. The mauling they handed out to us back in November was inflicted without Lampard, Drogba or Ballack even in the squad.

In fairness though, Wolves were without Kevin Doyle, they employed an odd 3-5-1-1 formation and Hennessy let two soft goals squirm under his body. Hardly ideal.

Like I say, much better is expected from us in this match and at the very least, it would be nice to see Wolves give a good account of themselves.

I can’t forecast anything other than defeat, but Chelsea haven’t been particularly good on the road of late, so there’s a small glimmer of hope in that respect.

My prediction: 3-1 Chelsea.

If you’re going to the game, enjoy the occasion and get right behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

There shouldn’t be any shame in going down by four goals to a top side, but 25 minutes in yesterday, I felt humiliated. Say what you like about the brilliance of Chelsea (they were very good), but Wolves made it far, far too easy for them.

View from the away end (click to expand)

Mick has to take a large chunk of the blame. The odd 3-5-2 system he tried play, left us chasing shadows for the first half hour, with players not able to adapt to the unorthodox shape. We were carved open time and time again down the flanks, with Anelka and Kalou drifting out wide and enjoying acres of space.

When the starting XI came through, I was actually pleased because I made the assumption he’d opted for the 4-5-1 I’d long been calling for. Silly me. When we eventually switched to this shape, the carnage lessened somewhat, but the game was long over.

Blame doesn’t lie completely at the feet of the manager though.

When you visit Stamford Bridge, you simply can’t afford for your keeper to have a bad game and it’s safe to say, Hennessy had a shocker. He could nothing about Malouda’s thunderous opener or Essien’s close-range, unmarked, header, but the two shots that squirmed under his body should have been bread and butter saves.

As a team, we defended woefully and didn’t show nearly enough fight to stop Chelsea ripping us apart. Whoever was supposed to be marking Essien for their second goal wants shooting. It was a great delivery but the powerful midfielder did nothing special to make the space. Not good enough.

The few times we ventured forward, we didn’t look half bad. Jarvis in particular was a thorn in their side and can count himself unlucky not to have set up a goal or bagged one himself. There was also the odd break, which we failed to capitalise on, mainly due to poor final balls. The closest we came was SEB’s far-post header, which Cech superbly turned round the post to maintain his long-running cleansheet record.

In truth though, had Wolves had the audacity to score, you just got the impression Chelsea could easily have gone up the other end and scored a couple more. They took their foot off the gas in the second half and at times it seemed like nothing more than an exercise in shooting practice, with Essien, Cole, Mikel and Alex all taking aim from range.

Undoubtedly, the biggest plus from yesterday’s match was the support. Even at 4-0, the loudest section of Stamford Bridge was the gold and black corner of the Shed End. Having paid the best part of fifty quid for a ticket and navigated the complicated journey through the capital, they deserved better.

We’ve got a week now to prepare for a giant game against Blues. From the terror of the Arsenal match and the chaos of Chelsea, we somehow have to find a winning formula to quickly turn things around.

Our season depends it.

So, smell an upset?

Carlo Ancelotti - Perfect home record in the league so far

You’d certainly be a brave man to expect Wolves to leave London on Saturday evening with anything other than a good hiding. But stranger things have happened and with a good performance (particularly in defence), maybe, just maybe, we can ruffle a few feathers and dare I even suggest it, get a result.

Team news from their camp perhaps offers small crumbs of comfort. Frank Lampard is definitely out, which is good to hear, for the obvious reason that he’s a top player, but also because he has an annoying tendency of scoring against Wolves. Ashley Cole and Bosingwa are both sidelined, with Didier Drogba another potential absentee. Of course the players likely to come in will still be a class above the names on our teamsheet, so like I say, small crumbs.

What’s more important to me is the side that Mick McCarthy picks and the performance that team produces. Our manager learned some harsh lessons against Arsenal, which he himself has since admitted. We don’t want to just sit back and let the top sides dominate us, which is admirable, but we have to be solider defensively against the big boys. And for me, that means sacrificing a striker for a midfielder.

I think Mick will do this on Saturday and opt for 4-5-1. The one glaring omission from this predicted lineup is Kevin Doyle. It won’t please the fans (including me) to see him left out, but I do believe he’ll be rested, given that he’s played two games in a week for Ireland. So my guess for the starting XI reads:

Hennessy

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Stearman

Kightly
Henry
Castillo
Edwards
Jarvis

SEB

Regardless of whether this turns out to be the starting lineup or not, what Wolves must not do on Saturday, is gift Chelsea goals. If we get undone by a moment (or two) of real quality, fair enough. But in games of this nature, you can’t afford to make any mistakes. We found that out the hard way against Arsenal.

Chelsea don’t have the same fluidity to their play as the Gunners, nobody does, but they do have an incredibly effective style and know exactly how to win games of football. In fact, I’d go as far to say that if Wolves find themselves behind at any point in this match, it’s an almost-certainty that we won’t find a way back.

A cleansheet seems incredibly unlikely, so we’ll probably need at least one goal to get anything from the game. That doesn’t seem too unrealistic and they’re long overdue to concede at home. Maybe 1-1 is the most likely positive result for Wolves.

Unfortunately, I don’t see the game panning out like that. They’re a strong side all over the pitch, particularly at Stamford Bridge and I think we’re in for a difficult afternoon. I’m going for 3-0 to Chelsea, but hoping for an unlikely upset.

If you’ve paid the excessive premium to go to the match (like me), have a great time and roar the lads on. The away support this season has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Up The Wolves.