Wolves have been warned not to take liberties with their exciting surge into the new season when they journey to the football margins tonight.

A Carling Cup tie against troubled League Two club Rotherham at their temporary home at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium could struggle to get the juices flowing in a Wolves team impatient for Championship success. But fresh from an acclaimed victory at Ipswich, defender Neill Collins is urging his colleagues not to fall into the trap of complacency.

“Football’s a funny thing,” said the Scot.

“On Saturday we were buzzing and really pleased by the result but football can bring you right back down to earth if we don’t do the business against Rotherham.

“What I find in football is that you’ve got to try to keep yourself on an even keel all the time because otherwise, you get kicked in the teeth.

“We enjoyed Saturday’s win but we started preparing for Rotherham on Sunday because there’s a fine line between success and failure in football.”

A Wolves team of a previous vintage will testify to that – Dave Jones’s promotion winners lost an after-extra-time 4-4 thriller on penalties at Millmoor in 2002 in the same competition.

Like Jones before him, manager Mick McCarthy will make changes and give fringe players some much-needed game-time but is stressing the need to keep the winning feeling running through the club.

And Collins agrees saying:  “It feels like we’re riding the crest of a wave at the moment so we want to go to Rotherham and win to keep that going – we don’t want to do anything for that to stop.

“The Carling Cup is important for us as well because it gives more players the opportunity to play and, if they impress, they can keep the shirt.

“Winning, just like losing, is a habit. People wonder why teams at the bottom can’t seem to buy a win and it’s all about confidence.

“It’s the same with winning – once you start winning, you don’t want to stop and we’ve done that, even from coming from behind.

“On Saturday we managed to get ahead and keep it that way so we don’t want to change that and we’ll be looking to keep that going over the next two games.” Although McCarthy and the entire Wolves camp will be annoyed that for the second year running injuries are in danger of disrupting progress, the options for the manager are many and varied tonight.

Chief among them will be goalscorer Dave Edwards, while transfer-listed duo Stephen Elliott and Darren Potter are also included amid little sign at the moment that the last few days of activity will bring either a move.

If they stay, then they come straight back into the plans says McCarthy and Edwards admits the manager is sure to be enjoying the competition for places.

“I played against Accrington a couple of weeks ago so hopefully I’ll get a start tonight, more than anything just to get 90 minutes to keep my fitness levels up,” he says. 

“I suppose it’s a nice problem for the manager to have because he didn’t really have it last season to the extent he’s got it this time and that can only benefit the team. Of course, the lads are going to be disappointed at not playing but the ones not picked get behind everyone and it showed on Saturday.”

And, right now, it’s a delight just to get out on the pitch.

“We look full of goals – the wingers, Jarvo and Kights, Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake all look dangerous and look like scoring goals, as do Andy Keogh and Sam Vokes,” adds Edwards.

“It’s great to be in a team like that, whereas last season we were trying to nick a goal and then trying to hold on. This season we look very strong.”

Rotherham, twice in administration this Millennium and starting this campaign docked 17 points by the league, have come back with a vengeance and will be a tough test for Wolves.

Three wins out of three and an attractive attacking style have brought a sense of revival to a club which has flirted so frequently with crisis.

“We won at Sheffield Wednesday in the last round,” says new chairman Tony Steweart,  “which was a bit special for me as a boyhood Owls fan.

“I want every game to be a cup final for us and our lads are playing with a little skip in their step these days.”

Boss Mark Robins has a doubt over captain Pablo Mills but they coped without him on Saturday when Chester were beaten 3-1.

Defender Marc Joseph also missed out at the weekend due to illness and is also a doubt for the Millers.

“We know it will be tough so we need to be on our game,” said Robins. 

“Wolves have made a good start and they have millions of pounds worth of players at their disposal, so we are just hoping that they might rest one or two.”