Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink celebrated his 32nd birthday by coming off the bench and blasting a 12-minute hat-trick, including his 100th Premiership goal against Wolves.

The Dutchman's treble saved manager Claudio Ranieri from coming under even more pressure as Chelsea came from behind against the team propping up the table.

The day could not have started much worse for Ranieri. Already facing fierce speculation over his future as Chelsea manager, his breakfast would have been spoiled by a photograph on the front page of a national newspaper showing England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson visiting the home of Stamford Bridge chief executive Peter Kenyon on Thursday.

It looked as if he would strengthen his position when Mario Melchiot gave Chelsea a fourth-minute lead and the Blues threatened to go on a scoring spree to mirror their 5-0 win at Molineux earlier in the season.

But Chelsea took their foot off the pedal and Henri Camara and Jody Craddock both scored to give Wolves hope of their first away win in the league this season.

That all changed on the hour when Hasselbaink came off the bench to inspire an about-turn. Frank Lampard marked his 100th consecutive Premiership appearance with the equaliser before Hasselbaink grabbed a tasty treble inside the final 12 minutes.

It took Chelsea just three-and-a-half minutes to open the scoring - the 58th goal Wolves had conceded in 30 games - and it was right-back Melchiot who carved open the visiting defence to record only his second goal of the season.

Melchiot started the move on the right flank, passing the ball inside to Lampard. He in turn found Joe Cole, who picked out Melchiot in the right hand corner of the box after the Dutchman had continued his run, and he fired the ball past Paul Jones into the opposite corner of the net.

Chelsea were guilty of some alarming complacency in the 23rd minute as they allowed Wolves to steal an equaliser.

Marco Ambrosio threw the ball to left-back Celestine Babayaro and he flicked it inside to John Terry. It was not the best of passes, but the Blues skipper was dispossessed by Henri Camara who then slotted the ball home off the legs of Ambrosio for only his second goal of the season.

Wolves, inspired by skipper Paul Ince, then had the audacity to take the lead - though on sheer effort it was no less than they deserved. Mark Kennedy curled in a corner from the right and Craddock got in ahead of Terry and Ambrosio to power home a header from eight yards for his first Premiership goal of the season.

Chelsea needed a goal and on the hour Ranieri sent on Hasselbaink for his 200th Premiership appearance.

The game was reminiscent of when Chelsea, who drew with Arsenal in Europe on Wednesday, played Bolton at home in December following a midweek Champions League tie. They then led 1-0 but lost 2-1, and the home fans were wondering if that was going to be repeated by battling Wolves.

Just when Chelsea needed a hero, up popped Lampard after 70 minutes. Taking a square pass from substitute Damien Duff on the left, he drilled the ball inside Jones' near post from 25 yards to equalise - and celebrate the fact he was only the third outfield player in Premiership history to notch 100 successive games.

It was to prove a day of landmarks as Hasselbaink rescued Chelsea with his 100th Premiership goal - making him only the third foreign player to notch a century after Dwight Yorke and Thierry Henry.

Collecting a pass from William Gallas some 30 yards from goal, Hasselbaink carried the ball to the edge of the box before rifling a brilliant drive into the top-left corner.

Brave Wolves were finally killed off after 87 minutes as Hasselbaink took a pass from Duff and coolly scored his second and Chelsea's fourth, before the Dutchman completed his hat-trick in stoppage time.

Teams:

Chelsea: Ambrosio, Melchiot, Terry, Gallas, Babayaro, Geremi (Hasselbaink 60), Lampard, Makelele, Cole (Parker 80), Crespo, Gudjohnsen (Duff 45).

Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Huth.

Goals: Melchiot 4, Lampard 70, Hasselbaink 77, 87, 90.

Wolverhampton: Jones, Clyde, Craddock, Butler, Naylor, Camara, Ince, Rae (Cort 84), Kennedy (Newton 73), Miller (Cameron 84), Ganea.

Subs Not Used: Oakes, Irwin.

Booked: Rae, Ganea.

Goals: Camara 23, Craddock 57.

Att: 41,215

Ref: G Barber (Hertfordshire).