Jonas Olsson joined Albion from Dutch club Nijmegen in August 2008

West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo has explained his decision to leave out defender Jonas Olsson for their Premier League opener at Chelsea on Saturday.

Olsson was a regular in Albion's promotion-winning season, starting 43 Championship games for the Baggies.

But Di Matteo decided to pair Gabriel Tamas with new signing Pablo Ibanez for the 6-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

He told BBC WM: "It was difficult because Jonas is a good player, but the other two have a bit more experience."

Albion made the worst possible start to the season on their return to the English top flight, succumbing to a Didier Drogba hat-trick, a brace from Florent Malouda and another goal from Frank Lampard.

Nicky Shorey, who signed from Aston Villa in the days leading up to the match, was also left out of the starting line-up.

Di Matteo is hopeful that the squad can erase a heavy defeat from their minds and concentrate on their next game, which is at home to Sunderland on Saturday.

"We need to take it game by game, not get too down when we lose and not get too upbeat when we win," added the former MK Dons boss.

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