Wolves defender Matt Doherty admits they struggled to match "clinical" Chelsea for Saturday's 5-2 home defeat.

The Irish wing-back came off the bench for the final 30 minutes of the thrashing – in what was Wolves' first home loss in 16 matches.

Doherty said: “They kind of nullified us from the start.

"It was pretty much a very professional and clinical performance from them and we're going to have to learn from it."

Doherty insists their Europa League commitments were no excuse for the result.

He added: “I think that would be an easy excuse to use or for people to say, but I don't think so. We're probably a bit ahead of schedule in terms of when we came back in for pre-season, and the games that we've had, but if anything, it's probably just got us right.

“I can't use that [Europe] as an excuse at all."