Wolves have started the season having addressed one problem but at least, temporarily, found another.

That was the initial conclusion from this soggy first day encounter. Last season, Wolves’ big downfall was not scoring enough.

Pre-season showed enough evidence that the problem of sticking the ball in the back of the net had been addressed.

At a monsoon-like Home Park, Wolves showed they hadn’t a problem in the opposition penalty area by scoring two. They created enoughopportunities to have at least doubled their tally, in a game they should definitely have won.

On a day when Freddy Eastwood made a subdued debut for Coventry in their 2-0 win over Norwich, Wolves showed they hadn’t missed him, as their ‘second choice’ partnership of summer signings Sam Vokes and Chris Iwelumo carved holes in Plymouth’s rearguard late on.

The only problem was keeping them out at the other end Last season, their record of 19 clean sheets suggested they were pretty good in that department.

In drenched Devon, a defensive uncertainty that had reared its head in the friendly at Walsall, before looming large for a wobbly half hour against Blackburn, surfaced again in Plymouth.

Now is not the time to panic. This is the start of a new season and people should be full of hope.

The partnership at the re-modelled heart of the defence, now populated by captain Jody Craddock and Richard Stearman, has to be worked at.

Craddock has been through all this before and experience suggests that he will again.

Stearman has looked a class act through most of pre-season, especially in his pace and ability in the air, so the portents are good: Wolves will get it right at the back.

Let’s not forget too, that this a defence that kept 19 clean sheets in the Championship last season.

McCarthy has only lost one player from his back four – Gary Breen – whose replacement Stearman will show himself to be a more than adequate replacement.

On Saturday, the normally dependable Craddock appeared to be at fault for the seventh minute opener, after failing to deal with a long kick from former Wolves loan keeper Graham Stack, one of five debutants to have started for Plymouth.

We may never know whether Craddock was waiting for a call from keeper Wayne Hennessey, who was lobbed by Rory Fallon, or whether the skipper was shielding the ball back to Hennessey or just couldn’t clear his lines.

It served as an early reminder to suggest that Wolves have some teething troubles to iron out, before the gruelling Championship programme settles down.

There have been uncomfortable warnings fortelling the sudden defensive difficulties Wolves are experiencing at the back.

During the friendly at Walsall, they persisted in an offside trap regularly sprung by the League One side.

Then came the Blackburn game, where they were alarmingly sliced open by long balls for the first half hour before getting their act together.

Whenever Plymouth threatened, you sensed an uncertainty about Wolves at the back that their manager – a vastly experienced former centre-back himself – will seek to eradicate at the earliest opportunity.

That uncertainty was prevalent again when Wolves fell behind for a second time in the 55th minute.

This time, central defender Marcel Seip bundled home at the near post after too many Wolves players seemed to converge on the ball from a corner after Hennessey had turned away Jamie Mackie’s fierce effort.

Dutch defender Seip was left with a simple task to steer inside the near post after the ball squirmed loose.

For their occasional defensive lapses, Hennessey didn’t have a serious save to make, apart from turning aside Luke Summerfield’s free kick and Wolves always looked the more dangerous side.

Key to their hopes is keeping Kightly fit, because after a man of the match performance for the visitors here – Stack won the overall award for denying his former side several times – the winger is again his side’s most dangerous player.

He was in the right place at the right time to steer a smartly-taken volley past Stack for the first equaliser in the 19th minute to convert Kevin Foley’s deep cross.

Later, an 80-yard run from Kightly saw Sylvan Ebanks-Blake denied by Stack, who then produced more heroics to twice deny George Elokobi a first competitive goal for Wolves after his strike in the friendly against Blackburn last week.

First Stack blocked a header from the left-back, then he followed up to get his body in the way of Elokobi’s follow-up shot.

This came during a five-minute burst of frenetic Wolves attacking, that left Plymouth clinging on to their 2-1 lead.

McCarthy pre-empted this high octane finish from his side, by replacing Stephen Ward and Andy Keogh with Matt Jarvis and Chris Iwelumo on 67.

The changes saw Wolves adopt a more direct approach similar to their opponents. They should have levelled when Ebanks-Blake miskicked and missed the chance to silence the taunting Plymouth fans, before Elokobi was denied from the follow-up. Stack saved Iwelumo’s point-blank effort.

Within two minutes of Vokes’s 77th minute arrival – with his first and second touches of the ball – the 18-year-old former Bournemouth striker had levelled to reward Wolves’ late rally.

The move was a delight, as Vokes was picked out by Karl Henry’s pass, executed a perfect one-two with fellow substitute Chris Iwelumo and executed a fine finish.

It was little more than Wolves deserved, especially as Karl Henry, Ebanks-Blake, David Jones and Kightly all went close to scoring.

Clearly there is much to do, but there were enough encouraging signs that Wolves have enough firepower to make an impression on the Championship this season.

They will be looking to use that goal power to progress in the Carling Cup against Accrington Stanley tomorrow night.

McCarthy will be going flat out to ensure they sort out those defensive problems too in the coming days.