CHELSEA have asked Wanderers for help in their attempt to prove that Celestine Babayaro was innocent of the elbow offence for which he was given a red card at the Reebok Stadium.

Normal TV pictures of the incident, in which referee Mike Dean deemed Babayaro to have elbowed Youri Djorkaeff, are said to have proved inconclusive.

However, the Blues are adamant the Nigerian international did not commit the violent conduct offence, which would earn him a ban of three games, and have therefore asked Bolton for permission to view their in-house TV pictures.

Chief executive Trevor Birch told Chelsea TV: "We're trying to get some video footage from Bolton themselves from a different camera angle. We've got until Wednesday to appeal."

If Babayaro's red card is upheld, he would miss the games at Everton and Middlesbrough, as well as a Worthington Cup fifth round tie - if Chelsea beat Everton in the fourth round - or a home league game against Aston Villa.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, meanwhile, who scored Chelsea's late equaliser in last Saturday's game, still believes the Blues should have taken all three points despite having been reduced to 10 men.

"Bolton are not bad, I wouldn't say that, but we had the better chances to beat them. They cleared the ball off the line twice and their keeper was working much more than ours," said the Dutchman.

"It was a wonderful cross from Gianfranco and I just needed a touch, but we had to take three points here and we didn't. You need a bit of luck in those kind of games."