John Terry was back as captain in place of ankle injury victim Marcel Desailly, while Geremi was suspended. Wayne Bridge, Juan Sebastian Veron and Emmanuel Petit were the others to take their turn on the sidelines.

While Ranieri’s millionaires aimed to remain unbeaten, their opponents sought their first goal in six hours and 19 minutes of Premiership football, and the first win of a torrid campaign.

Nathan Blake and Hassan Kachloul failed to recover from hamstring and groin injuries respectively but Henri Camara and Steffen Iversen both returned.

Manager Dave Jones also opted to hand a full debut to former Aston Villa midfielder Joey Gudjonsson.

Wolverhampton: Oakes, Irwin, Butler, Craddock, Naylor, Newton, Ince, Gudjonsson, Kennedy, Iversen, Camara. Subs: Murray, Luzhny, Cameron, Rae, Silas.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Johnson, Terry, Gallas, Babayaro, Gronkjaer, Makelele, Lampard, Duff, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Subs: Ambrosio, Cole, Petit, Crespo, Huth. Referee: M Messias (N Yorkshire)