At full-time, the Irish commentator on the Internet feed I’d been watching, summed this game up perfectly when he said:

“Lots of positives for Wolves, but no points.”

No report needed.

Wolves battled hard and used the ball well

In all seriousness though, you can look at this defeat in two ways.

1. Wolves played well, knocked the ball around impressively and were simply undone by two moments of real quality. If we continue to play as well as that, we’ll start winning games sooner rather than later.

Or, the slighly more downhearted:

2. Wolves played well, knocked the ball around impressively, but once again ended up on the wrong end of the final scoreline. It was an opportunity missed and there’s no point getting credit for a decent performance if you’ve got no points to show for it.

Personally, after the two months we’ve had, I’m happy to lean towards the former and salute players and manager for upping their game.

Mick saw the light and brought Milijas back into the middle, dropped Fletcher from the right-side of midfield and finally (finally!!) introduced some long-overdue balance to the side. The improvement was there for all to see.

Milijas strolled around the park, swapping passes with Jones and getting Jarvis into positions where he could really do damage. Not only that, but the Serbian himself cleverly picked moments to pop up on the edge of the Chelsea-box and test Cech with a handful of decent efforts.

Doyle was back to his best too, pestering Terry and Ivanovic throughout with his trademark hold-up play and movement. He was also unlucky not to become the first opposition player to score a Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge this season, stinging Cech’s hands with a clever snapshot and getting just under a Jarvis cross from close-range.

A mention too for Dave Edwards, whose non-stop running was a real asset today, with both Jones and Milijas able to pick him out for a change. The Welshman had Wolves best chance, powering a header straight at Cech following a wonderful flowing move down the right. He’ll have been disappointed not to have done better.

Defensively, Berra and co probably did as well as they could have. Some of Chelsea’s build-up play was devastating, with both of their goals a result of textbook examples of pass and move football. But whenever the ball was there to be won, the two center-halves and both full-backs got it to safety, often keeping their composure and retaining possession.

Stearman’s first half tackle on Drogba was rash, but other than that one moment of madness he filled the void Craddock left behind well and looked calm and assured in only his second appearance of the season.

Not much to say about Hahnemann, typically strong and decisive, in stark contrst to Hennessy’s horror-show last season in the same fixture. His perfectly timed tackle on Drogba was a particular highlight and capped another solid, all-action display.

Continuing the positivity, Stephen Hunt finally saw some action and came close to dragging us level with a powerful diving header that Essien cleared off the line. Considering the torrent of abuse he had to withstand from the Chelsea supporters, he performaned admirably and will only improve over the coming weeks and months.

So overall, plenty to feel good about moving forward.

But in the immediate, another pointless weekend means the gap between Wolves and 17th place increases.

And that does not make me feel good.

Wolves travel to Stamford Bridge tomorrow kicking off a daunting run of fixtures against the top four sides in the Premier League.

Chelsea were 3-0 after 22 minutes last season

Arguably, this is the hardest of the lot, at the ground of the reigning Champions where Chelsea have lost only once in the league since 2008.

And their home form to date has been flawless.

As well despatching West Brom 6-0 on the opening day and ripping Blackpool apart within the first 20 minutes of another emphatic win, Arsenal were also sent packing with their tales planted firmly between their legs.

So what hope for a Wolves side without a win since the opening day and four defeats in their last five? To put it bluntly, very little.

On paper this looks a foregone conclusion and anything other than a comprehensive home win would surely come as a surprise to even the most optimistic of Wolves supporters.

Mick McCarthy has no choice but to shuffle the deck with Karl Henry still suspended, Jody Craddock injured and Michael Mancienne ineligible against his parent club.

Here’s the team I think we’ll see:

Hahnemann

Foley
Berra
Stearman
Ward

Jarvis
Edwards
Jones
van Damme
Fletcher

Doyle

That’s Stearman once again deputising for Craddock and van Damme filling the void in the holding midfield role. The only other option in the center of the park is Milijas and I can’t see Mick throwing the Serbian in at the deep end against the likes of Essien and Mikel.

We should also get a glimpse of Stephen Hunt this weekend too with the Irishman likely to be named amongst the subs. He can expect a pleasant reception from the Chelsea fans should he make an appearance (sarcasm).

Prediction League

Myself, dboy and Rich all correctly forecasted a 1-1 draw last weekend all of us picked up the maximum three points on offer.

As a consequence I’ve extended my lead at the top of the overall table (thank you, thank you).

This weekend I’m unsurprisingly going for a defeat but the question is, how heavy? Hmm, think I’ll go 3-1 Chelsea.

If you’re going to Stamford Bridge (I learned my lesson last year) have a great time and get behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

I was unlucky enough to catch the first half of Chelsea’s impressive 2-0 victory over Spartak Moscow last night. It certainly didn’t provide too many crumbs of comfort ahead of our daunting trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

So to see if I could find anything to give us hope for the weekend, I chatted with some Blues’ supporters on a popular football forum. Here are the questions and some of the best answers:

How would you rate Chelsea’s season to date? You’re top of the league with a vastly superior goal difference to everyone else. Has it all been smooth sailing?

Chelsea won both matches last season

“Pretty much went as I expected, disappointing to not get something from City and losing in the League Cup so early but the season has been more than satisfactory so far. It hasn’t always gone smoothly, a few injuries are exposing our lack of depth and more injuries could see us struggle.”

“Top of the league and shouldn’t complain, but we are by no means perfect. We still lack some pace and guile up front, which mean we are a bit static when up against very well organised defences. The squad does not have the depth it did last year and we will struggle when key players are injured.”

Who have been your most important players thus far? Is it the usual suspects or has anyone really surprised you?

“Malouda has been vital to the front line and the midfield. He has been our main creative force. The return of Essien of course has given us a better bite in the midfield. Then of course Cech Cole and Drogba. JT has also improved on the poor spells he had last year.”

“All of them, they have all been important particularly the midfield with the loss of Lampard, Ramires has been key.”

“Every player has put in a good shift. The usual suspects Drogba and Malouda are vital to our attacking play, Cech seems to be cutting all mistakes out of his game and Terry is starting to look like the old Terry, faultless season so far. The only surprise for me is Mikel, he’s so improved its incredible. He finally looks to make a forward pass as much as possible rather than sideways and backwards, he even made a Lampard-esque off-ball burst forward against Villa.”

Which would you rather win this season, the Premier League or the Champions League? You’ve never won European Cup, so does that hold greater value?

“The Champions League… So people will stop talking about it!!! All jokes aside the best team in Europe wins the strongest league and not necessarily the Champions League.”

“Many disagree, but it will always be the Champions League for me until we win it.”

“Always PL for me, but would love this to be the season we go one further as well. For me, you have to be champions of your country first, then champs of europe, so this year would be a fitting climax to some of our players’ careers. Probably wishful thinking though.”

Wolves took an absolute pasting at Stamford Bridge last year and aren’t coming into the game in the best form, what do you think we need to do to have any hope of coming away with a decent result?

“Unfortunately for Wolves, and no disrespet intended, your best bet is damage limitation. Hard work, concentrating for the full 90 mins and working for each other is what will get you a decent result. Do the basics well and you’ll do yourselves justice, few teams come to Stamford Bridge and get a result, nevermind a win. Stick to a game plan and give it a go, who knows, it might be Wolves lucky day!”

“What Villa did was sit back so far that we had no room to play anything intricate. And without Drogba crosses have to be so precise.”

“Two options. Throw caution to the wind and try to get an early goal or pack the midfield and try to hit us on the counter. Either might work depending on who turns up on the day.”

“Sorry but it will take a miracle for you guys to get anything at the Bridge. If there’s any living hope of you getting a result it will be from us having a major shocker not you playing well.”

“Close down the midfield, stop ashley’s overlapping runs. For 90+ minutes. Easier said than done.”

Michael Mancienne has played substantially more games for Wolves than Chelsea. Do you think it’s inevitable he’ll move on permanently in the not-too-distant future? What are your thoughts on the player?

“I wanted him to stay this season because I thought he could fill the role in the squad Belletti filled last year. He wants out though I think because that’s the best we could offer him. And at 22 I think he isn’t likely to step up suddenly. Could be cracking in a few years though once he gets the experience.”

“Don’t know if he will leave permanently or not. Clearly, he is not yet good enough to break into our first team and its better that he get experience in the premier league. Time will tell if that changes.”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he’ll be a permanent Wolves player come the end of the season. I wouldn’t have minded him being a squad player for us, but I don’t think he’ll ever be good enough to be a regular.”

“Still think he has a Chelsea future if he can put on some muscle and prove himself this season.”

Who would you identify as Wolves most important players? And also (a bit of a long-shot this one) would you welcome any of our players into your squad?

“I quite like the look of Matt Jarvis, I’ve also been a fan of Wayne Hennessy wanted him to replace Carlo Cudicini when he left but don’t know what happened to him as Hahnemann gets in more now.”

“Doyle is a very good player. Better then just the runner he is given credit for. He might slip into our squad.”

“Wayne Hennessey would be my choice, Milijas looks decent as well.”

“Doyle, Fletcher, Hahnemann, but probably only the last I would take as a backup to Cech.”

“Kevin Doyle, he could do a decent job for a higher up the table club. David Jones and Matty Jarvis look good players too. I would definitely have Hennessey as our back-up keeper purely because our number 2 and 3 keepers are so poor compared to Cech. Jarvis and Doyle would get in as squad players.”

Finally, dare I ask, what’s your prediction for Saturday? Be kind.

“A hard earned 1/2-0.”

“Doubt it will be as convincing as last year as we have our injury problems. I’ll go for the Chelsea win though.”

“We’ll get the result but I don’t think by a big margin, 2-0 I say.”

“Prediction for sat? Probably 2-0. Our defence is looking good, but we might struggle to create, and we’re probably looking at a set piece or two. All the best though. Hope you guys stay up. Maybe you can answer one for me – why are your fans so far away from the pitch, and are the club looking at moving/redeveloping? It’s always a pity to see on MOTD.”

“I’d be happy with 1-0. Good Luck anyway.”

On Friday, Wolves found out they’d been unjustly punished by the Premier League for supposedly handing Manchester United 3 points. Yesterday they committed the same offence against an out of sorts Chelsea side, albeit in less notorious fashion.

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.