Derby day hero Matt Murray paid tribute to the fans for inspiring Wolves to at last beat Albion – and targeted a top two spot.

Murray was inspired form on a pulsating afternoon at Molineux as he thwarted Albion hot-shot Diomansy Kamara with three superb second-half saves.

And the giant goalkeeper felt the win – and his performance – was just reward after the fans’ double derby misery this season.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game because Albion are a quality side, but the atmosphere was unbelievable and our fans really got behind us throughout the game.

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Derby day hero Matt Murray paid tribute to the fans for inspiring Wolves to at last beat Albion – and targeted a top two spot.

Murray was inspired form on a pulsating afternoon at Molineux as he thwarted Albion hot-shot Diomansy Kamara with three superb second-half saves.

And the giant goalkeeper felt the win – and his performance – was just reward after the fans’ double derby misery this season.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game because Albion are a quality side, but the atmosphere was unbelievable and our fans really got behind us throughout the game.

“When Jay Bothroyd popped up with that great strike at the end the whole place went into ecstasy.

“We’ve just got to make sure now we push on because we’ve got a difficult game tomorrow and another one on Saturday.

“Every game now is a massive one, but we just have to make sure we keep moving in the right direction.

“I couldn’t wait to play in a derby game this season, but after the first two I wasn’t sure if I should change my mind!”

Murray feels he has finally arrived on the Black Country derby stage after what he feels were two “patchy” displays in the previous meetings between the arch-rivals 

“It’s great to get a clean sheet, and, as a defensive unit, that’s what we pride ourselves on. To chip in with a few saves is always nice, particularly as the last two games had been so disappointing because we hadn’t defended well.

“I let in probably a couple of goals which on another day I think I’d have kept out. I think I got a bit lucky with one or two I blocked, but it was just a great team performance.

“I think we always knew we could respond to the FA Cup game in the right way. The way the gaffer is and the way all the players are, we knew we didn’t play well that day and could get better.”

With nine games to go Wolves find themselves just four points off the top two – and Murray thinks their incredible momentum has brought them into contention for automatic promotion. 

“Ever since I’ve been at Wolves I can’t think of another run like it,” he said. “We just have to make sure that this result now doesn’t count for nothing and that we go on to a difficult game at Coventry and perform in the right way.

“The gaffer’s already telling us to enjoy this, but stay focused, and hopefully we’ll be looking back at the end of the season having been promoted and thinking this was a major turning point.

“If people are going to talk about us again and the expectation is coming back then rightly so. If you’re a massive club like Wolves then that’s how people should be talking. We’ve always had that expectation.

“We know what the gaffer says but at the same time we know he expects us to do well.

“The play-offs have always been our aim and the way we’re going now we have to aim for automatic. Then if we fall just short of that we still end up in the play-offs.”