Premier League preview: Chelsea v Wolves

Chelsea will try to bounce back from losses in Europe and the Premier League when they take on Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

After successive 2-1 losses to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen, manager Andre Villas-Boas will be pushing his troops to recover by winning against Wolves.

“Confidence is low but they expect the manager to inspire them,” Villas-Boas said.

“I have to motivate them to get a win against Wolves on Saturday and then against Liverpool in the Carling Cup next Tuesday.”

With Ghana’s Michael Essien still recovering from knee surgery, John Obi Mikel came on as a substitute against Leverkusen even after his mistake against Liverpool.

The Nigerian defensive midfielder might feature against Wolves but Ashley Cole has picked up an ankle injury and is only rated as a 60 per cent chance to play.

Jose Bosingwa started in place of Cole against Leverkusen and will start against Wolves if Cole is ruled out.

Level on 22 points in fifth with Liverpool and Arsenal, Chelsea need all three points against Wolves if they are to keep pace with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur who are three points ahead with Spurs having played a game less.

Just two points and a place above the relegation zone, Wolves will need to improve their poor away record this season, which has seen them win just one.

Manager Mick McCarthy will welcome back defender Ronald Zubar after Richard Stearman broke his wrist in the 2-1 loss at Everton.

“I’ve been training for a couple of weeks now without any problems so I can say to the gaffer that I’m here and ready,” Zubar told Wolves’ official website.

Midfielder Jamie O’Hara is suspended, having picked up five bookings.

McCarthy may change Wolves’ formation and Nenad Milijas might not start even though the Serb played well against Everton.

“Nenad played well on Saturday, but I’m still trying to find the solutions that work best,” McCarthy told the Express and Star.

“Jamie had just scored three goals in four games prior to last Saturday and he’s very good at that role.”

“He’s as good a finisher as anyone here and it suits us playing with that extra midfield player.”

“It makes us harder to beat and harder to play against and Jamie does his bit for the team as well.”