Wolves 2 - 1 Manchester City

It was the Wolves as we knew them as we clinched our first win in eight games and at times, it wasn't as tricky as the scoreline suggested.

But the first 20 minutes belonged to City, who had squandered chances through Emmanuel Adebayor and Mario Balotelli, but shortly after, Richard Stearman needlessly slid in on David Silva near the byline to give a penalty to the visitors, which was coolly converted by Adebayor. After the restart we started playing playing through some fantastic wing play and the chances came flooding in. Dave Edwards was denied twice by Joe Hart then the crossbar within a minute. But the equaliser came when Matt Jarvis' cross was deflected into the path into the one man you would want the ball to fall to inside the 'D', Nenad Milijas, who volleyed low into the bottom corner despite Hart getting a hand to it. And we looked like the team most likely to score the next goal, and that showed when Vincent Kompany persistantly fouled the sublime Kevin Doyle without getting a booking.

Second half started like the first ended, City looked as though they were lacking cohesion by the minute and it was costly as a poor Kolo Toure clearance from Kevin Foley's cross fell to Doyle, whose shot was blocked by Hart and Edwards kept composed and slotted in to give us the lead. After that, City threw the kitchen sink, forcing our backs to the wall, bringing Jo and Adam Johnson, who terrorised our left side. Whilst the defence were lofting high and long balls, Silva dropped deep for the ball and tried to make things happen, all to no avail as nobody wanted to know. Adebayor was wasting more chances and Mario Balotelli being a petulant drama queen wasn't helping the team. Our unity was epitomised when Michael Mancienne put in a magnificant tackle on Johnson in stoppage time before being mobbed by the rest of the team.

It was a great performance which shows that you can't buy team spirit. Next stop: Old Trafford. Piece of cake, according to Super Mick McCarthy, and why not?

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis (Mouyokolo 88), Edwards, Henry, Milijas (Mancienne 83), Hunt (Elokobi 65); Doyle

MAN CITY (4-1-3-2): Hart; Richards (Jo 83), Kolo Toure , Kompany, Boateng; Yaya Toure; Milner, Barry (Johnson 68),  Silva; Adebayor (Zabeleta 77), Balotelli

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Wolves v Manchester City

Today we face the third consecutive tricky test as big spenders Manchester City come to town.

We'll have Karl Henry back from suspension to give us more options in midfield but I suspect Mick McCarthy will pick the same middle three that served us well last season in Henry, David Jones and Michael Mancienne. Jody Craddock remains injured but Steve Mouyokolo's good performance at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup should give Richard Stearman's place a run for it's money and likewise for George Elokobi as he challenges Stephen Ward for the left-back slot.

As for City, Carlos Tevez, he has a dead leg and should be out for two weeks (between the lines, he's been given compassionate leave) so it's a chance for Mario Balotelli to make his first start since his absurdly big money move from Inter Milan. Dederick Boyata is suspended but Kolo Toure should back in after recovering from a hamstring, although it would be great if Joleon Lescott stepped in for the sake of a good ovation from us. It's worth noting that City have a dodgy track record away from home this season, losing to Sunderland and scraping a win at Blackpool.

I can't predict who will win, but it will be closer than it suggests on paper and the fixture last season.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES: Hahnemann, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi, Jarvis, Henry, Mancienne, Jones, Hunt, Doyle

MAN CITY: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Kolo Toure, Boateng, Barry, De Jong, Yaya Toure, Milner, Balotelli, Silva

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 4/1; Draw 9/4; Man City 4/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Adebayor (Man City) 9/4; Balotelli (Man City) 5/1; Johnson (Man City) 7/1; Milner (Man City) 8/1; Fletcher (Wolves) 8/1; Doyle (Wolves) 9/1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 10/1; Hunt (Wolves) 14/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 16/1; Richards (Man City) 20/1; Foley (Wolves) 50/1

KEY PLAYER: David Silva. The Spanish international is just starting to turn on the style.

WEAKEST PLAYER: Kolo Toure. Just returned from injury. Our chances should come if we test him early doors.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Mark Kennedy, Joleon Lescott, Steve Daley, Dave Wagstaffe, Keith Curle, Paul Simpson

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Chelsea 2 - 0 Wolves

Petr Cech described Saturday's game as his busiest game since he joined Chelsea. Now if you thought he'd be saying that before the game, you are much entitled to laugh at the suggestion.

First half, we gave Chelsea a run for their money, we created chances but the shots we had were so easy for Cech to grasp hold of. We didn't allow Chelsea to get out of first gear, although they were pressing but the very few chances they had was thwarted by Marcus Hahnemann. But they did take the lead when Yuri Zhirkov pulled the ball back for Florent Malouda to tap in. But even after the goal, we looked threatening and we went in at half-time encouraged.

Second half saw the debut of Stephen Hunt and straight away he made a difference, almost scoring with a diving header only to be cleared off the line by Michael Essien. There was a bit more to come from Hunt as he was pegging Chelsea more and more back and a equaliser was more than certainly on the cards but our chances of a great draw was dashed by a great triangle move started by Salomon Kalou, who passed to Didier Drogba for Michael Essien to tee up Kalou to make it 2-0.

This is a performance that should set a standard for the rest of the season and get the team to start believing.

'Grobs'

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Chelsea v Wolves

Tomorrow we face the first big cheese of the season as we travel to Stamford Bridge and there's only gonna be one outcome.

Chelsea have scored 45 goals in the 9 league games (you do the math to find out the ratio) at Stamford Bridge and despite the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they still have plenty of goals in them through the medium of Florent Malouda, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and the in-form Nicolas Anelka.
 

As for us, we're down to our bare bones in midfield, so much so that we had to call back David Davis from a loan spell over the road at Walsall. With Karl Henry and Adlene Guedioura out and Michael Mancienne ineligible, the three midfield men most likely to start are David Jones and Dave Edwards with what I would believe would be Nenad Milijas in the holding role. Jody Craddock will be a great miss but I hope Richard Stearman can kick on from last week's performance.

The outcome is inevitable. It's like an arranged marriage. There's no getting away from it, no matter how much you dislike it, but we'll have a go for the hell of it.

'Grobs'
　
POSSIBLE LINE-UP

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Ferriera, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Essien; Kalou, Anelka, Malouda

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Milijas, Jones, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle

KEY PLAYER: Florent Malouda. Supplier and a scorer of many goals.

WEAKEST LINK: Er...

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Dave Beasant, Carlton Cole, Michael Mancienne, Jim McCalliog, Bill Barraclough

ODDS (with William Hill)

WIN: Chelsea 1/7; Draw 6/1; Wolves 20/1

FIRST GOALSCORER: Anelka (Chelsea) 3/1; Malouda (Chelsea) 7/2; Kalou (Chelsea) 4/1; Essien (Chelsea) 5/1; Ramires (Chelsea) 12/1; Fletcher (Wolves) 16/1; Doyle (Wolves) 16/1; Cole (Chelsea) 20/1; Terry (Chelsea) 20/1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 20/1; Hunt (Wolves) 25/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 25/1; Stearman (Wolves) 40/1; Foley (Wolves) 80/1

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Four Horsemen Of The (Premiership) Apocalypse

Eight games, six points and here come the Four Horsemen Of The Premiership Apocalypse and I'm not talking about Conquest, War, Famine and Death, but Ancelotti, Mancini, 'Taggart' and Wenger. To kept the results respectable or even withstand any chance of getting a measly point, we must set our stall out - 4-5-1, men behind the ball and get forward whenever possible - like we did in the latter half of last season. Let's take a quick close glance at what could be the top 4 come May.

Chelsea (a)

Even with the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they should win with no need to move to top gear. Way too much firepower with Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Flourent Malouda still at large.

Manchester City (h)

Their away form has been rather unconvincing so far this season and should Carlos Tevez not be available for selection, then they could pay the price for their over-reliance on the Argentinian striker.

Manchester United (a)

They've not been the most convincing this season. However Old Trafford is quite a fortress and after West Brom grabbed a draw there, 'Taggart' will look to make sure more points aren't dropped at home to smaller sides.

Arsenal (h)

Like Manchester City, their away form hasn't been the best season. And with the absense of Robin van Persie and (potentially) Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal can be a ordinary side on a bad day. Play our cards right and test whichever keeper Arsene Wenger chooses to put out and we could get summat.

But all in all, points at this stage, points should be considered as a bonus as our priority is to finish these next four games with our pride and confidence intact, otherwise we might not turn up for the more winnable games after.

'Grobs'

Wolves 1 - 1 West Ham United

So apparently this was a must-win game to us fans, to the manager and the players I do not know.

David Jones for Karl Henry was our only change but after two minutes Jody Craddock went off injured down the tunnel and on came the fragile Richard Stearman. Apart from one save, Rob Green is one of the worst keepers I have seen down here for a long time and it was his mistake that led to the opening goal. He parried a cross from Stephen Ward straight into the path of Matty Jarvis who volleyed first time into the back of the net after ten minutes. We were on top throughout the first half but didn't convert the possession into chances and were made to pay for it in the second half.

Eight minutes in, Victor Obinna was took down by Kevin Foley and the useless Mark Clattenburg gave the Hammers a penalty (couldn't see whether it was or not from my view) that Mark Noble put away with ease. From then on for the last 40 minutes or so of the game West Ham were on top and really should have won with the chances created. We didn't have a clue what to do apart from give Jarvis the ball but we can't solely rely on him throughout the season. Kevin Doyle seems a completely different player to last season, he never gets in any scoring positions and gives the ball away too easily. I'm also afraid to say that me and a lot of the crowd think Mick McCarthy is starting to lose the plot. A 4-5-1 formation at one to the bottom teams is stupid and to take Steven Fletcher off with half an hour to go and replace him with a supposed left-back Van Damme (who doesn't even want to play for us) and play him on the right-wing is a joke. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake finally came on in the 88th minute but never had a chance to do anything. The match finished 1-1 and the fans vented their frustrations at the end with a chorus of boos.

Wolves, this is just not good enough and with our next four league fixtures of Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h), Manchester United (a) and Arsenal (h), we are in serious deep shit and are gonna be stuck down there for a good while. Is it time for a change?

Colin 'Geesus' Hodgkiss

LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock (Stearman 3), Berra, Ward; Edwards (Ebanks-Blake 88), Mancienne, Jones, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher (van Damme 66)

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green; Jacobsen, da Costa, Ben Haim, Gabbidon; Dyer, Parker, Noble; Boa Morte; Obinna, Piquionne

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Wolves v West Ham United

Words cannot describe how a important a game this is. In terms of recent results, West Ham have taken a turn for the better whereas we have taken the opposite turn but all that could change tomorrow. Win, and we should be out of the bottom three come 6pm on Sunday. Lose, and we're in a world of trouble and a draw won't do us favours either.

With Karl Henry's petulance leading him to being banned for three games, a void in the centre midfield needs to be filled and I hope Nenad Milijas will fill it as he has had his say in these relegation clashes on more than occasion, leaving Michael Mancienne to do all the graft. Steven Mouyokolo has completed his first 90 minutes in the reserves in the week and a fresh change at the back is always welcome in a bid to get our first clean sheet this season, maybe at Christophe Berra's expense? And if the first 45 minutes looks bleak, I'd like to see the fit-again Stephen Hunt jump off the bench and try and make a difference. It remains to be seen if Kevin Doyle will be 100%, if not, then I have full confidence in Steven Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake doing a job.

West Ham looks as though they're starting to turn things around, must be something to do with that Jewish-thing Avram Grant attended as they've been undefeated since. Thomas Hitzlsperger being out four months is a boost for tomorrow and the games ahead as he has a cannon of a left foot. Not much to shout about for West Ham other than the fact that Carlton Cole has not scored this season andif there's one thing we are quite renowned for doing, it's helping teams and players end their hoodoos. But Frederic Piquionne is someone to watch out for at this point and time.

My head says 2-2, but my heart says must and will win, and it would be nice to stick it to Messrs Gold and Sullivan.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward; Edwards, Mancienne, Milijas, Jarvis; Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green; Jacobsen, da Costa, Upson, Gabbidon; Faubert, Parker, Noble Boa Morte; Obinna, Piquionne

KEY PLAYER: Scott Parker. Everything that West Ham does, he's at the heart of it. Was the best player on the field when we stuffed them in March.

WEAKEST LINK: Fresh on the England scrapheap, it's Robert Green and Matthew Upson, not to mention that they're out of form. Their declines could be our advantage.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 5/4; Draw 9/4; West Ham 11/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Fletcher (Wolves) 11/2; Obinna (West Ham) 11/2; Piquionne (West Ham) 6/1; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 13/2; Cole (West Ham) 13/2; Barrera (West Ham) 8/1; McCarthy (West Ham) 8/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 10/1; Hunt (Wolves); 10/1; Jones (Wolves) 12/1; Parker (West Ham) 12/1; Noble (West Ham) 14/1; Milijas (Wolves) 20/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1; Mancienne (Wolves) 33/1; Faubert (West Ham) 33/1; Upson (West Ham) 33/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Shaun Newton, Kevin Keen, David Kelly, Gary Breen, Paul Ince

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Nenad Milijas, come on down!

Three games, two midfielders unavailable, one question, which combination should we use for the next three games with Karl Henry, Adlene Guedioura and Michael Mancienne (ineligible for Chelsea) unavailable for selection? David Jones looks as though his mind is set on leaving, David Edwards has an amazing engine but nothing else, so that leaves a midfielder who last season shown glimpses of promise yet so much more to offer. Step forward, Nenad Milijas.

Milijas stepped into Molineux on the back of scoring 22 goals in the 2008/09 season for Red Star Belgrade and we all believed he would supply and score the goals from midfield. He made a bright start in his first few games by spraying passes and whipping in threatening set-pieces with that left foot but as we would start to find out, he hadn't lasted 90 minutes for us. Now I hear this urban myth about Milijas being a 40-a-day smoker and I can't help but think that if it is true, then no wonder why his endurance has suffered. But despite this, he has contributed so much to the first half of the season; the free-kick heading in by Andy Keogh at Wigan, the deliveries that gave Jody Craddock brace at Stoke, the ball touched on deftly by Kevin Doyle to claim our biggest scalp against Spurs, the opening goal that won us a then-crucial game against Burnley and who could forget his finest performance in the Wolves shirt capped off with a 30-yard screamer against Bolton? This is proof that a player doesn't have to last 90 minutes or run around all day to leave a footprint on a football match and all a player like Milijas needs is one killer pass and it could define the difference between a result and defeat. But Mick McCarthy believes that work ethic gets results, hence why he preferred fellow left-footer Jones in the second half of the season - not that I am disputing his beliefs because that's what kept us up and Jones played a major part in that.

Now fast-forward to the World Cup, pre-season and now. Milijas has travelled with the Serbia squad to South Africa, and having only played once in the tournament, he needed a break and had to catch up on fitness with the rest of the Wolves squad, in order to do that, McCarthy has only started him in the two Carling Cup games, which he has dispatched a penalty in each, also lasting 120 minutes in both games in the process, which would easily show signs of his fitness improving, which is a priority, irrelevent of how good or bad he performed. Should Milijas play on Saturday, the other central midfield void wouldn't need filling as the tenacity and mobility of Mancienne would be the perfect foil for Milijas for spray passes at will.

Should he be given the chance to start, whether he'll last 90 minutes or not, Milijas sure won't disappoint. After all, he is from Serbia, underestimate him, and we will murder ya.

'Grobs'

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International Watch: October 2010

Thank heavens it's done with. Back to some real football. So how did the Wolves boys fare?

England Under-21s (beat Romania over two legs 2-1)

Michael Mancienne played in both games at right-back as he captained his side to qualification to Euro 2011 finals via playoffs.

Belgium - Kazakhstan (a) W 2-0; Austria (h) D 4-4

Jelle Van Damme played 80 minutes against the number one exporter of potassium. Unused sub in the 4-4 draw against Austria.

Republic Of Ireland - Russia (h) L 3-2; Slovakia (a) D 1-1

Kevin Doyle played 70 minutes before hobbling off against Russia. Worrying times. Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley were unused in both games.

Scotland - Czech Republic (a) L 1-0; Spain (h) L 3-2

Christophe Berra and Steven Fletcher got accustomed to the bench once again.

Serbia - Estonia (h) L 3-1; Italy (a) Match aborted after 6 minutes due to crowd trouble

Nenad Milijas warmed the bench up again.

Wales - Bulgaria (h) L 1-0; Switzerland (a) L 4-1

Wayne Hennessey pulled off a great performance against Bulgaria but was powerless to stop the Swiss' onslaught. Dave Edwards was a peripheral figure in the two games as he lasted 70+ minutes in both games.

In other international news, Marcus Hahnemann is contemplating calling it quits from the USA squad. Fingers crossed.

Aside from Doyle, everyone looks as though they've come back unscathed. Let's hope their backsides ain't too numb for Saturday.

And what good was playing Ashley Young then bringing on Shaun Wright-Phillips? Closer eye on the gold shirt with number 17 on the back of it when your next visit to the city please Fabio.

'Grobs'

Do You Remember Ludovic Pollet?

Wolves 24-7 doesn't only talk about the present and the future, but we also like to reminisce about past, good or bad times. So without further or do, we open a new feature called 'Remember...?' Every month, Wolves24-7 will go to the past and remember the good and bad players who donned the gold and black shirt. This month, we look at a centre-half who has had more injuries to his face than I've had hot dinners, Ludovic Pollet.

In August 1999, Robbie Keane was sold to Coventry City for £6m, enabling Colin Lee to use the funds from the sale to bolster the squad in other areas. Out of the players he signed from the spree, Pollet - or 'Ludo' as he was affectionately know to us - proved to be a snip. He arrived from French side Le Havre on loan in September 1999, making his debut in 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town and a few solid displays and a month later in the centre of defence alongside ex-England man Keith Curle, he was snipped up for what would turn out to be a shrewd £350,000. Pollet's form continued so impressively that a Sunday newspaper wanted to stir some fiction suggesting Arsenal were interested and tabled a £1m bid for the Frenchman. This did not deter him as he went on to be voted Player of the Season for the 1999/2000 season.

However in his second season, despite solid performances - which saw him score against West Brom - and gaining the captaincy for a couple of games, 'Ludo' struggled with injuries, mainly due to his bravery, putting his body where it hurts, but his face more so as he suffered a broken nose, gashed eye and half a dozen cuts to the facial area during his time here. And due to the form of Paul Butler and the emergence of academy star Joleon Lescott, Pollet had to resort to injuries and suspensions to his competition to get his chance to play and he only managed to make seven appearances in the 2001/02 season as we wasted a golden chance to gain promotion to the Premier League -nonetheless he did a job. He rarely featured in our promotion campaign a season later, resorting to only League Cup appearances and the emergence of another youth product in Mark Clyde pushed Pollet further down the pecking order so he spent some time on loan at our friendly neighbours Walsall.

'Ludo' was released in June 2003 making 78 appearances and scoring 7 goals for Wolves and returned to his native homesoil with USL Dunkerque for three seasons before retiring. He remains at the club as an assistant coach.

'Grobs'

Wigan Athletic 2 - 0 Wolves

Where do I start? This is a game that we've known for a while we shouldn't lose. Wigan are one of the most inconsistent teams in the Premier League & have been for a couple of years. This year, they look like relegation fodder. Though they've gone and beat us 2-0, whilst playing worse than they did in the corresponding fixture last year - which we won 1-0 courtesy of an Andy Keogh header. Andy Keogh, a player we've sent out on loan, then brought in the fabulous Marcus Bent - whom we bring off the bench like he's our saviour. Personally, I'd prefer Keogh. Bent was ineffective, and probably always will be. Not that he wasn't a decent player at one point...but not now. But I'm rambling. Let's go back to the beginning of the match.

Wolves started brightly enough, Wigan looking suitably rattled as we got the game under way with some decent passing. Then, for an inexplicable reason, 11 minutes in Karl Henry - yes, the same Karl Henry, influential captain who has been under the cosh of late for his tough tackling displays - takes out Wigan's Jordi Gomez after the ball has gone. Why? The official explanation is that it was just a mis-timed tackle. Maybe it was, though as well as every fan of every other club in the Premiership, some Wolves fans are starting to question the motives of their captain. The tackle was not the worst in the world, but on another day it could have seen Gomez stretchered off with a broken ankle. Gomez experienced near flight on his way back down. We all know Karl likes to put himself about on the pitch - he's said so himself, and fair enough. Every club needs a tough tackling midfielder. But the problem from a Wolves point of view, is, with Henry's sending off, we had to play the majority of a match - one that we ought to have had a good chance of winning - with just 10 men. Our bright start went down the pan, and the match turned into a scrappy affair. It serves to show how bad Wigan are - they didn't take advantage of their extra man all first half.

Come the second half - Wigan came out all guns blazing. Still, thanks to Marcus Hahnemann's hard work in goal, it took an excellent free kick from - you guess it, Jordi Gomez, to break the deadlock. Wolves never looked like scoring - we didn't register even one shot on target all match - compared to Wigan's seventeen. A better team than Wigan would have hammered us. On 85 minutes, Hugo Rodallega scored to wrap it up for Wigan, as Christophe Berra's sliding attempted clearance came off him and ended up in the back of net.

This was one of the most inept performances from Wolves in recent times. People are right when they say something needs changing. Though things may have been different if Karl Henry had kept his composure.
 

Neil 'Nes' Hodgkiss

LINE-UPS

WIGAN (4-4-2): Al Habsi; Boyce, Gohouri, Alcaraz, Figueroa (Stam 60); McCarthy, Thomas (Diame 74), Gomez, N'Zogbia; Di Santo (Watson 85), Rodallega.

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward (Ebanks-Blake 82); Edwards (Bent 82), Henry, Mancienne, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher (Elokobi 52). Sent off: Henry (11)

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Wigan Athletic v Wolves

The first Premiership showdown this Saturday sees us return to the scene of out first ever away victory in the Premiership as we travel to Wigan.

We will have to give the same kind of attacking performance just like we finished the game with against Villa. Wigan conceded 79 goals last season so there should be no reason why we should go for the win. If Mick McCarthy's got to make substitutions to chase a win then he's gotta stick Kevin Doyle, Steven Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in a front three. One change we could make is Stephen Ward paving the way for George Elokobi, impressed me last week.

Wigan will look to recent impressive away results for inspiration as they look for their first win at the DW Stadium this season. However, to do that, they must rely on a defence that has conceded an average of more than two goals per game last season to stop our front three from adding to their creditable tallies. One omen Wigan fans could pine for is that when Hugo Rodallega scores, they would go on to win in most matches and that could provide more motivation for Jody Craddock and Christophe Berra to stop him.

I predict a 3-1 win to us but I would be happy to take any win just to stop the rot and ease the pressure of winning the next game against West Ham before four big cheeses back-to-back. This is a must-not-lose game to say at the least.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WIGAN (4-5-1): Al-Habsi; Boyce, Gohouri, Stam, Figueroa; Alcaraz, McCarthy, Diame, Thomas, N'Zogbia; Rodallega

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi; Edwards, Henry, Jones, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher

KEY PLAYER: Charles N'Zogbia. A handful at Molineux last season. Kevin Foley and Dave Edwards will have to double up well to stop him.

WEAKEST LINK: The entire back four. Ali Al-Habsi looks like a good keeper, but he sure ain't no Superman.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wigan 5/4; Draw 11/5; Wolves 23/10

FIRST GOALSCORER: Rodallega (Wigan) 13/2; Fletcher (Wolves) 13/2; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Boselli (Wigan) 7-1; Di Santo (Wigan) 7-1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 15/2; N'Zogbia (Wigan) 8/1;McCarthy (Wigan) 12/1; 9/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 14/1; Jones (Wolves) 14/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Henri Camara, Tony Dinning, Paul Cook, Andy Mutch, John Pender, David Connolly.

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