• ‘I don’t recall one day that I felt so bad in football’

• West Ham concede three first-half goals at Molineux

Nuno Espírito Santo apologised to West Ham’s fans after his team lost 3-0 at Wolves, describing it as his worst day in football, but insisted he had the desire to keep fighting to get the team out of the relegation zone.

West Ham are winless in nine matches after succumbing to rock-bottom Wolves. The result leaves the Hammers four points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, whom they face on Tuesday. Nuno, who immediately walked down the tunnel at full time without shaking hands with Rob Edwards, has won two of his 15 Premier League games in charge since taking over from Graham Potter in September.

This was the latest West Ham humiliation of the season, and possibly Nuno Espírito Santo’s last. They became the first team to lose to Wolves at the 20th time of asking, allowing the Midlands club to double their points tally in the process and bring hope of not being the worst team in Premier League history, while leaving the Hammers four points adrift of safety.

Former Wolves head coach Nuno has already been sacked once this season and a ninth game without victory will increase the pressure on a man who was more popular with the home fans, who celebrated first-half goals from Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Mateus Mané, than the away end at Molineux. West Ham failed to get a shot on target against a team without a clean sheet prior to Saturday, who had secured three draws and nothing else in 19 matches, to put them in danger of falling below Derby’s record low of 11 points, although if the Hammers continue to play like this they might only finish three better off.

Palmer and Delap are among five academy players who learnt their trade at City, as links between the clubs grow

Chelsea’s visit to Manchester City on Sunday will be a homecoming for members of the travelling party. Five Chelsea players were nurtured at the academy that sits a few hundred yards from the Etihad Stadium, on the other side of a bridge.

The London club’s recent recruitment has been heavily influenced by City’s teaching of players and coaches. Tosin Adarabioyo, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Roméo Lavia were members of City’s youth ranks, most working there under Enzo Maresca. If one thread was unpicked this week when Maresca dramatically departed Chelsea, the link remains strong because Sunday’s caretaker, Calum McFarlane, was formerly the under-18s assistant manager at City.