ANDRE Ooijer was given a lesson in the harsh realities of life in the Premiership during a debut he will desperately want to forget.

Pitched in at the deep end by his new manager, Mark Hughes, Rovers' new £1.7 million signing from PSV Eindhoven endured a baptism of fire at the hands of champions, culminating in him conceding the penalty that ultimately sent the points back down the King's Road.

For 49 minutes, Rovers had matched Chelsea stride for stride here.

But then came the moment that effectively turned this game on its head.

There appeared to be little imminent danger when Frank Lampard clipped a free kick into Rovers' penalty area shortly after the interval.

As John Terry went to make one of his darting runs, Ooijer followed him like a stalker, the pair becoming involved in a tangle that resulted in the Chelsea skipper collapsing to the ground in a heap.

To Ooijer's horror, the referee Mark Clattenburg then pointed to the spot, insisting the Rovers defender had made no attempt to play the ball.

"When you get a penalty like that against you, it changes the whole game," said Ooijer, dejectedly.

"We were holding each other. He (Terry) told the referee he was pulled back, but that wasn't the case.

"We were both holding each other and then he fell to the floor, but the ball was way over heads anyway, so I don't think it was a penalty."

Ooijer's sense of injustice was all the more acute given that Rovers had been denied an even clearer penalty soon after.

One nil down and desperate to claw their way back, the home side should have been awarded a spot kick of their own in the 73rd minute when Jason Roberts burst into the area only to be upended by Ricardo Carvalho, who clearly pulled him back by the shirt as he was about to pull the trigger.

Penalty! It had to be. But, inexplicably, Mr Clattenburg waved away Rovers' appeals.

Hughes was quite rightly incensed and, to further rub salt into the wounds, Chelsea then had the audacity to bag a second late on, which gave the scoreline a rather flattering look.

With Ooijer wilting in the heat of battle, substitute Didier Drogba cruelly exposed the Dutchman's recent lack of match action to smash home his side's second and seal the points.

As for Ooijer, well, he will want to forget his debut in a hurry.

It was always asking a lot to expect him to step straight in to a game of this intensity after just two training sessions with his new team-mates, and so it proved.

Generally speaking, though, Rovers acquitted themselves well against a Chelsea side that has still to gel following the summer arrivals of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack.

Without a genuine wideman to pose a threat from the flanks, the Londoners looked one-dimensional until they got their lucky break in the way of the penalty.

Rovers enjoyed the best of the opening half hour but, for all their dominance, they never really put Petr Cech under any serious pressure.

Robbie Savage blasted one effort high over the crossbar, a Morten Gamst Pedersen free kick was deflected onto the roof of the net with Cech well beaten, then Pedersen got in again on the left but criminally overhit his cross with David Bentley in oceans of space at the far post.

As the half wore on, Chelsea ominously began to get their act together.

Only a timely interception from Ooijer denied Ballack a goal on his debut, then a mistake by Bentley let in Shevchenko, the Ukrainian warming Brad Friedel's fingertips with a stinging low drive that was gathered at the second attempt.

Chelsea were screaming for a penalty shortly before the break when Lucas Neill barged into Salomon Kalou as the former Feyenoord striker attempted to control a pass from Lampard in the area.

On that occasion, Mr Clattenburg said no'.

But, sadly for Ooijer, he wasn't quite so generous four minutes into the second half, Lampard making no mistake from the spot.

That set-back seemed to galvanise Rovers and they poured forward in search of the equaliser.

Benni McCarthy drew a brilliant save out of Cech when he controlled a cross from the outstanding Brett Emerton on his chest and pulled the trigger from six yards out.

Then Mr Clattenburg somehow failed to award Rovers a penalty when Carvalho clearly tried to rip the shirt off Roberts' back as he darted into the area.

Hughes tried to inject more creativity in the closing stages by introducing Paul Gallagher in place of the desperately disappointing Pedersen.

But it was Chelsea, and their substitute Drogba, who had the final say.

Once again, it was a moment Ooijer will hardly want reminding about, Drogba easily outmuscling the Dutchman before smashing a shot beyond Friedel.

So Rovers go into the international break propping up the rest of the Premiership.

The only way is up.