Typical.

The vast majority of us went into this match thinking a draw would be an excellent result, but by the end we were all licking our wounds and cursing our luck having only picked up a point.

Kevin Doyle - 3 goals in 4 league games

Kevin Doyle’s cool finish had us all dreaming of another crucial away win, but it wasn’t to be. A bad decision and a lapse in our otherwise solid rearguard cost us the result.

As disappointing as that is, we must take the positives out of the match and move on to the Villa next weekend.

And there were plenty of things to be positive about.

The return of Michael Kightly and SEB to the starting eleven can only be seen as a good thing. Neither look razor sharp, but with more minutes under their respective belts, we can expect better in the coming weeks.

On another day, SEB might have been celebrating his first Premiership goals, having failed to convert two presentable chances for a striker of his calibre. Undoubtedly though, we got a glimpe of what the Doyle Ebanks-Blake partnership is all about, namely, genuine goal threat. For all the effort, endeavour and link-up play that Keogh brings to the side, having two strikers that know where the goal is has a very obvious appeal. And both players probed and asked questions of the Everton defence throughout, eventually getting their reward with the opener.

At the other end of the pitch, Ronald Zubar was finally (FINALLY) given his chance and he performed admirably in a much stronger back four. Looking at that defensive quartet, there’s a bit of everything; pace, postional sense and most importantly, experience. Having Craddock in the side seems to sure things up, so it was a good decision by Mick to bring him back in. With Michael Mancienne recovering from illness, I wonder whether he’ll find his way back in anytime soon.

Praise to for the continued improvement of our goalkeeper. He made a few good saves and again looked assured between the sticks. The quality of his kicking is superb, so it was no surprise to see him lend an assist with a giant hoof up the pitch. He was left exposed for the equaliser and could do very little, despite his best efforts to scramble across.

I’m not going to say too much about refereeing decisions, but it was a foul on Doyle in the lead up their goal and The Hoff’s sending off was a little bit soft. That being said, the big Austrian certainly seemed keen to get stuck-in and we know he has a reputation for getting into trouble. I suspect it won’t be the last time we see him taking an early bath in his Wolves career. Quite a character.

So definite disappointment we didn’t get the win, but I certainly feel better today than I did following the Portsmouth defeat. The Villa match will be another great test for our young stars, but I now have faith that we can once again compete and maybe even get the result.

With this Wolves team, nothing surprises me.

Everton supporter Richard has kindly sent in a late contribution for the preview. He makes some interesting points and I’m keen to hear what you all think.

Anyway, over to Richard:

So Wolves are back in the ‘big-time’ and ready for another shot at staying where the money men dictate who wins what.

I welcome the return of a traditional and well supported club back to England’s top tier, but doubt whether the stay will be long.

Mick McCarthy needs to learn from two of the promoted clubs last year to keep his job and keep Wolves in the Premiership.

Stoke City showed how to do it, while West Brom simply let themselves get relegated, resigned to their fate before Christmas.

That thought leads on to this weekend’s clash at Goodison Park and the probably return of Segundo Castillo, the Ecuador midfielder ‘enforcer’, to the ground where he was used primarily as a bench warmer.

Castillo was an enigma last season, while he scored a brilliant goal in the UEFA Cup and producing a solid performance in one of the FA Cup games against Liverpool, his main role was to make other players look better.

If Wolves want to remain in the Premiership they can’t rely on the likes of Castillo to play an integral part.

Apart from Karl Henry, Michael Kightly and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, I can’t think of another Wolves’ player I would want in our squad; though I’m not sure any would get in the starting XI.

Home form is vital so any points you can nick away from home will only boost the chances of avoiding relegation.

This season has seen contrasting form for both sides. We started off poorly again, though without our best striker, midfielder and defender, and the Lescott saga, it wasn’t such a shock.

Imagine Liverpool without Torres, Gerrard and Carragher? Exactly, and that’s what we’ve had to cope with – no Yakubu, Arteta or Jagielka. All Evertonians will savour the moment we see the three of them in the starting XI.

The trio will again be absent again this weekend, with Yakubu probably appearing from the bench.

I’m only mentioning Lescott now because I feel he doesn’t deserve more than a quick line. As Pat Nevin said: “Lescott wasn’t even Everton’s best defender last season.”

To get £24m for him, pay £5m for Distin and also get Heitinga and Bilyaletdinov with money left over, now looks like a piece of genius from David Moyes.

Wolves have had a rollercoaster start to the season but need to settle down and concentrate on solid defending and nicking 1-0 wins, mainly at home.

Form suggests a 2-0 home win and I can’t think of anything other than that score. That said I hate predicting us for a ‘simple’ home win and may well live to regret it.

Finally, can someone explain why you insist on singing the Hi Ho Wolverhampton just before kick-off?

It doesn’t do the club or the fans justice, and is quite frankly one of the most cringeworthy things I’ve ever heard or seen at a football ground in 30 years of watching.

See you on Saturday. I’ll be the one with the Fellaini wig…

After two of the most boring and uneventful weeks in recent Molineux history, Wolves return to action this Saturday with a difficult game at Goodison Park.

Following the morale-crushing defeat to Portsmouth, you’d like to believe the boys in old gold will at the very least produce a performance.

And there’s evidence to suggest they will.

Scrutinising our progress thus far, you’d have to say that bouncing back is something we do quite well. Following the deflating opening day defeat to West Ham, we came out fighting at Wigan. Blackburn away was perhaps the worst performance of the campaign, yet we were able to quickly turn it around to overcome Fulham. This gives me hope that Wolves can get it right against the Toffees and maybe even dig out an unlikely result.

It’s a daunting task though.

Everton can give anyone a game when they’re on song and particularly at home, they’re a force to be reckoned with.

It worries me how well some of their midfielders break forward and I can definitely foresee the likes of Cahill, Osman and Pienaar causing us problems come Saturday. Ironically, if Wolves are to get a result, it might just be a former Everton player that throws a spanner in the works of their chief creators. I’m of course talking about Segundo Castillo. The Ecuadorian wrecking ball must play in my opinion to anchor our midfield and provide a shield in front of a leaky defence.

Up front, they’re certainly not lacking. Louis Saha is a striker of genuine quality and fully fit, must be considered their biggest threat. They’ve also got the imperious Yakubo finding his way back to full fitness and when he turns up, he’s practically unplayable. So whether Moyes adopts a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2, I think our defence will need to put on their best performance so far in order to keep them out.

At the back though, I feel we might be able to expose one or two frailties. You can’t lose a player like Lescott and have a player like Jagielka sitting on the sidelines and not suffer. Even if we only deploy a lone striker, surely a couple of chances will fall our way and the end result might well come down to whether or not we take them.

I’m fully expecting Mick to flood the midfield as he did against Wigan and hope to grind out a result. This makes sense and with both our wingers fit, a 4-5-1 doesn’t necessarily equate to a defensive formation. But speaking of defence, could the much talked about Ronald Zubar finally be given his chance and if so, who is going to make way? Here’s my predicted lineup:

Hennessy

Halford
Berra
Zubar
Mancienne

Kightly
Henry
Castillo
Edwards
Jarvis

Doyle

Should Mick go for a two man attack, I’d expect Ebanks-Blake to be given a chance, perhaps at the expense of Edwards in midfield. But again, picking an eleven is pretty difficult, especially after such an indifferent display against Pompey. So really, your guess is as good as mine.

As far as a predicted scoreline goes, my heart says 1-1 but my head says 3-1 Everton. I’ll go with the latter but just hope that the boys come out fighting and surprise me with the result.

If you’re going to the match, have a great time and roar the lads on.

Up The Wolves.

Evertonian Preview

Here’s a mini-preview from an Everton fan, sent to me via the BBC 606 Message Board:

It’s great to see Wolves and Burnley back in the top flight. I’m hoping that both can survive. It’s always nice to see a mix up in the PL!

Saturdays match -

I can’t see a victory for Wolves. It may appear arrogant, but on paper we have far too much quality.

You may, depending on our performance sneak a draw but with the international break giving some of our team a rest and with the determination of our squad I fear for you.

We’ll pack the midfield and are learning to use the wings. Billy (our new russian) is showing glimmers of pure brilliance and his corners/crosses are almost pinpoint. With the likes of Cahill, Saha & Fellaini to target with such balls I can see us scoring more goals from open play this season.

Needless to add the quality of Saha upfront. Who, I would say is in the form of his life!

Our defence is getting stronger each week and Howard is in the form of his life so scoring against us won’t be easy. Distin & Yobo are partnering well, leaving the choice of Heitinga/Neil/Hibbert to cover RB.

The key to this battle will be the middle. From what i’ve seen of Wolves, they lack a bit of pace in the middle and that little bit of grit. If they let us play the flanks then they could be in trouble. If they block out the midfield and limit us to our ‘hoofball’ approach then I can see a draw.

Key players -

Wolves – Blake/Castillo/Kightly

Everton – Pienaar/Saha/Cahill

Good Luck