Wayne Hennessey marshals the Wolves goal again tonight hoping to edge closer to another Molineux milestone – beating Matt Murray’s clean-sheet record.

The Wolves keeper is just one short of the 17 shutouts achieved by his mentor last season, an impressive feat in his first full season in pro football.

The smart money would be on in-form Hennessey beating Murray with distance to spare before the end of the campaign – but he doesn’t expect number 17 to come easily tonight – even if it is against struggling Southampton.

Murray, currently injured, shipped six goals in that extraordinary clash between the two teams last season – and although Saints are a diminished force 12 months on, they still boast much of the firepower that did for Wolves that day.

All of which puts Hennessey on alert as he looks to equal Murray’s milestone.

“Matt got 17 clean sheets last season and I’m on 16 right now, so that’s my obvious target,” Hennessey said.

“My aim is to beat him – I’ll certainly be on the phone to him straight away if that happens with a bit of banter!

“Seriously, though, the more clean sheets the better for us and I think we’ve seen in the last couple of games what a difference it makes to keep a clean sheet and have something to build on.

“I can’t take credit for it really – I’ve not really been worked very hard.

“There has been a save here and there but the defence have been excellent. Jody and Breeny have been tremendous.”

In what must be classed as a remarkable turnaround for Mick McCarthy’s men, they have landed themselves right back in the thick of the promotion mix ahead of the visit of the Saints.

After grinding out back-to-back wins against Palace and Colchester the Molineux men are just two points from the play-offs with a game in hand – enough to give tonight’s game an added edge.

But while boss McCarthy insists he hasn’t even glanced at the table, Hennessey and the players are keenly aware of where they stand.

“I know the gaffer isn’t looking at the table but as a player you can’t help looking at it, seeing who we’ve got left to play and doing the sums in your head,” Hennessey added.

“Things certainly look a lot brighter than they did after the Stoke game. We’re 10th, which in previous years would have probably made you think ‘We haven’t got a chance’, but there is so little in it that you can’t say that’s the case this season.

“All the lads are looking at the situation thinking ‘It’s there for us’. We’ll have to go on a bit of a run but it’s not like we’re going to have to win all our games, so it’s open for us to have a real go.”

If Wolves are to do that, they’ll have to beat Southampton and buck a worrying trend that has seen them drop 13 points in their last six home games.

In stark contrast to their resolute away record, Wolves have notched just one win in six at home and that came courtesy of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s late winner against Sheffield Wednesday.

Despite their struggles on home soil, Hennessey insists they are welcoming the prospect of a return to Molineux after four straight away games.

“It’s nice to be back at Molineux after two good results but no one is taking anything for granted against Southampton,” Hennessey said.

“It’ll be a tough game and even though they’re not doing that well, we know they’ll be fighting for everything, so we’ve got to show our mettle.”

• Wolves’ all-time clean-sheet record is held by Noel George, who kept 23 in 42 games as the team won the Division Three (North) title in the 1923/4 season.

He conceded only 27 goals all season.

Mark Kendall kept 22 clean sheets in 46 games in the 1987/8 season when the team won the Division Four title.