This result was a travesty.

Why?

Because having completely outwitted, outmuscled and outplayed Blues from start to finish with what was effectively a reserve side, Wolves should have won by a significantly larger margin.

Hunt has already scored two important goals

However, it would be completely unjust of me to label any player in a gold shirt a ‘reserve’ following such a Herculean performance.

Deputising for the injured Kevin Doyle, SEB produced a masterclass in forward play to shake off the attentions of Dann and Johnson throughout, culminating in a sharp turn and cross to supply Stephen Hunt with a tap in for the only goal of the game.

It was a man of the match display from our number 9 who seems to have found a yard of pace as as well as an admirable determination to defend from the front. I actually lost count of the number of times he sprinted 20 yards to win possession and setup another attack.

He’ll deservedly keep his place for next weekend’s showdown at the Hawthorns.

And what about Stephen Ward? Deployed in a free role between midfield and attack, he was fantastic, slipping into useful positions all afternoon and linking up play with simple passes. He was a real asset today, combining his usual enthusiasm and work ethic with some touches of real quality.

Foley was quietly effective too, sitting deep and picking his moments to nip in and win the ball. The importance of his versatility should not be overlooked. Alongside Nenad Milijas he kept things ticking over nicely.

Edwards is of course the master of the lung bursting run and showcased his considerable sprinting talents to bomb forward throughout. He could have scored a hat-trick today and will be disappointed not to have buried at least one of the two headed chances that came his way.

One player who did find the net, as mentioned, was Stephen Hunt, timing his run to perfection to slot home at the near post. His knack of scoring important goals has already come to the fore and hopefully there’s even more to come from the plucky Irishman.

But perhaps the most telling contribution today came at the other end of the pitch, where the defence held firm to leave Wayne Hennessy untroubled throughout, bagging Wolves their first clean sheet of the season.

All four defenders were superb and comprehensively won the aerial battle with Cameron Jerome and the ineffective beanpole Zigic. It was important they did too, as all Blues could muster were hopeful long balls from deep, which very rarely landed in dangerous areas.

Mick will likely have one or two selection dilemmas next weekend when hopefully one or two of the walking wounded will return to bolster the ranks.

Whoever plays though, this performance shows we can at the very least dare to dream of a famous derby-double.

And who felt confident of that this morning?

Here’s a crushing stat for you: Wolves haven’t beaten Birmingham in the league, home or away, since March 2002.

Ouch.

Can Doyle make it two in two against Blues?

Still, what better way to kick-start a climb up the table than with a much-needed and long overdue win against one of our bitter rivals?

It won’t be easy though, with Mick McCarthy officially having to cope with more injuries (8) than any other manager in the Premiership. Throw Greg Halford and Jelle van Damme into the mixer too, on loan and sold, and you begin to realise the extent of the crisis.

At the time of writing this, we still don’t know whether one or both of David Jones and Michael Mancienne will recover from their respective injuries. Should both fail to make it back in time, our options in the center of midfield are embarrassingly limited, with only Nenad Milijas and the returning Dave Edwards available for selection.

Perhaps this lack of personnel will force Mick’s hand to revert to a 4-4-2? Or maybe we’ll see a 4-5-1 but with players shifted around to fill the gaps? If I was a betting man, I’d expect the latter. Here’s my guess for Sunday’s starting XI:

Hennessy

Zubar
Berra
Mouyokolo
Elokobi

Hunt
Foley
Edwards
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle

So that would mean Foley slipping into the holding midfield role and Hunt returning to the right wing. Milijas would perhaps play slightly deeper too, with Edwards given the freedom to roam and get up alongside Doyle.

Birmingham will keep things tight defensively, so we’ll be looking for our most incisive players, Jarvis and Milijas, to open them up. Even with restricted numbers, I feel we’ve still got more than enough to cause them problems going forward.

At the other end of the pitch, we simply can’t afford to give away anymore goals. Our defence owes us a strong performance and a cleansheet, so lets hope they finally deliver. I’m skeptical that they will.

Blues have failed to win any of their eight away games to date, so make no mistake about it, we’ve got a great chance in this one.

Prediction League

Well done to Dazza in Brisbane for hitting the nail on the head with a 3-0 defeat for Wolves at Blackburn. Our Aussie-based friend was the only person to pick up all three points.

Jed, Stourbridge Wolf, Rob, Philly Pete, t’OM, These are the days, Mark Davies, Hallam and Clive all added to their totals by a single point for guessing the outcome without the score.

This weekend, I’m going with my head and plumping for a draw.

I think both sides will score so I’ll go for 1-1.

If you’re going to Molineux on Sunday, really lift the roof off for the lads. I don’t know about you but I’m absolutely desperate for a local-derby win.

Up The Wolves.

As a blogger, you often get the chance to vent your anger in the aftermath of a crushing defeat or share your joy after a glorious win. But on days like today, I just feel like putting my head in my hands and sobbing.

I mean, what is there to say?

Does it really matter that Kevin Doyle was once again the best player on the pitch? He was, and by some distance. Tireless running, superhuman hold-up play and a wonderful poachers goal to give us the lead. I imagine he was sitting in the changing room at half three wondering what he has to do to finish on the winning side. I would be if I were him.

Kevin Doyle was once again superb

It probably doesn’t matter either that Adlène Guedioura offered some promising signs in his short cameo. In twenty or so minutes he did enough to show that he might at the very least give us another option in midfield. Had his rasping drive been just a few inches lower, it could have been even better for the young Belgian.

In fact, we had a few good chances to extend our lead in the second half but were largely wasteful in the final third, with players too often dawdling on the ball or picking the wrong option. I’ve got to believe a better side would have killed the game off long before Kevin Phillips turned it on it’s head.

And what about those late goals? Yet again we had numerous chances to clear our lines in the build-up to their equaliser. But for some reason, the ball never seems to end up down field or even in the stands. You could see Blues feeding off this, so it was no surprise they were queuing up at the back post to put it on a plate ‘Super Kev’ (I hate that weasel. There, I said it).

The winner was even worse.

Before you’ve even read it, you know what’s coming. How far was Stephen Carr allowed to bring the ball before Ward even bothered to face him up? I’d say he should be dropped for that, but sadly we’ve got nobody decent to plug the gap. Even when the ball was played across though, why is Berra not all over Phillips like a rash? He’d already reacted slowest for the equaliser, so to let him drift away a second time is criminal.

The pathetic ‘tactical changes’ from our manager was the final slap in the face for Wolves supporters to endure. Why the hell did he take Jarvis off? We’re desperate to try and get back into the game, so he removes the only player that’s capable of making a yard to send in a cross. Where’s the logic in that one? What was Surman ever going to do?

If I’m being ultra-critical, why SEB instead of Vokes? We’d already got to the stage where we were shelling balls in from deep so what was Blakey supposed to do? Am I the only one having trouble envisaging our number 9 rising like a Salmon above Roger Johnson to head an equaliser? Didn’t think so.

Once again, not good enough Mick.

All this and I haven’t even said anything about the 4-5-1 formation, the players being played out of position and Ronald Zubar’s propensity for pushing people in the back inside his own box.

Troubling times indeed.

Far too many questions and only one conclusion. Wolves fans deserve better.