Stephen Hendry admitted there was "chaos inside my head" as Stephen Lee put an early end to his bid for a first UK Championship title for 12 years.

The Scot, who has won the competition five times, struggled to concentrate during his 9-7 firstround defeat in Telford but did not reveal the cause of his problem.

"It's hard to pot balls when there's chaos inside my head," said the 39year-old. "I know what causes it but I'm not going to tell you.

"People talk about how good the standard is but if I got 30 per cent of my old form back, I'd be competing."

Hendry, ranked sixth in the world, also lost in the first round last year before recovering form later in the season to reach the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship.

World No4 Mark Selby is also out after being beaten 9-7 by two-time world champion Mark Williams.