Thank goodness everyone is playing ‘follow the leader.’

That can be the only crumb of comfort for Wolves fans, after another bizarre weekend of Championship football that saw the top three all lose.

Every time Wolves stumble, Reading and Birmingham seem to fall too.

While Wolves were struggling to get back into the game against Plymouth, Reading suffered their second successive defeat against Nottingham Forest.

Steve Coppell’s side have taken just five points from six games, during which time their only goal has come from Wolves’ own Neill Collins.

Blues have claimed just one point more during the same spell, which extended to three wins in 13 following a 2-1 reverse at Sheffield United.

Wolves fans will feel some relief at those statistics but the emotion is probably more one of bewilderment, at the way their team seem unable to arrest a slide threatening to undo all the good work that sent them racing clear by the turn of the year.

As boss Mick McCarthy and several players acknowledged afterwards, they can’t keep relying on their rivals slipping up.

After one win in 11 games, you might have expected Wolves to be struggling to make the play-off zone by now.

But amazingly in this increasingly crazy Championship campaign, they still top the division by three points with 11 games to go.

Perhaps, only because of that can the team escape condemnation, because this was another performance woefully lacking the necessary quality required.

It wasn’t as bad as the seasonal nadir at Burnley, but it wasn’t far off.

As was the case at Coventry – until Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s 94th minute penalty miss – and the 1-0 surrender at Turf Moor, Wolves failed to force a single worthwhile save from the opposition goalkeeper.

They dominated possession and forced the lion’s share of the chances.

But surely that’s no more than you would expect from the Championship leaders, facing the worst form team in the division who arrived at Molineux with eight points from their last 48 and with one away goal from their previous eight trips.

That was soon doubled, Paul Gallagher’s apologetically-defended overhead kick within 39 seconds ultimately proving the difference between the sides to condemn Wolves to their third defeat in four games.

Gallagher’s early strike did far more than give Plymouth the initiative, though.

Not only did it expose the fragility of Wolves’ defending as a line of gold shirts allowed the ball to bounce in their own penalty area before Gallagher struck.

That was all the more galling for the home side when it emerged that boss Mick McCarthy’s last words before the team left the dressing room were to watch out for Plymouth’s long throw – something they had practised defending against all week.

Crucially, the breakthrough also gave a team fighting for their life fresh belief,  confidence and something to cling to, which they did admirably.

It also meant they could sit back and defend in numbers for the rest of the game.

Just like the other two defeats Wolves have suffered recently, they were nervous and ragged in possession and wasteful in front of goal from the occasional chances they created.

But there’s little doubt, things aren’t going for them at the moment. When they have struggled for a breakthrough before this season, fortune has occasionally come to their rescue.

Whether it be the opposition failing to make capital of their chances – like Charlton at The Valley before Wolves equalised, Swansea did at Molineux or Southampton did at St Mary’s, or luck, as Sylvan Ebanks-Blake benefited when he netted his ‘offside’ goal against Coventry – the gods have smiled on them at times.

But referee Carl Boyeson saw to it that they weren’t to be allowed any helping hands – or even sensible decisions – on Saturday.

An official whose performances triggered an online petition to get him demoted from the Football League in September 2007 and who was described as “one of the worst of referees of my career” by Chris Iwelumo, Boyeson denied Wolves at least one perfectly good penalty, and possibly another.

Most people in the ground seemed to agree that Jamie Mackie shoved Kyel Reid to the ground as the winger wriggled away from goal in the 54th minute.

But not the Hull-based official. Nor when Dave Edwards appeared to have his heels clipped as he burst through some time later.

Iwelumo claimed the official could even have awarded a spot-kick with his eyes closed because you could hear the contact on the midfielder as he was brought down.

For the second game in a row, Edwards again attempted to be the driving force behind Wolves.

But he wasn’t alone in producing a performance way below the standard set six days earlier in the 2-2 draw against Cardiff.

Far too often, passes went astray as Wolves tried to build, only to have to win the ball back again after losing it, or the final ball was just too poor to force an opening.

Ebanks-Blake squandered the best chance, blazing over after Edwards put him through one-on-one against his former Pilgrims team-mate, keeper Romain Larrieu 16 minutes from time.

Michael Kightly showed a typical willingness to get on the ball and drive at the opposition, but the few moments of genuine quality were outnumbered by the  times he led himself up blind alleys, while, for all the ground he covered, Andy Keogh wasn’t alone in looking too tentative.

Maybe the trip to Crystal Palace has come at the right time, to flush this forgettable display out of their collective systems.

But unless they find a way of stopping the defensive errors, they risk prolonging the agony for the fans. As the form swings dramatically between the teams in contention, McCarthy’s assertion that another side could emerge from the ever-closing chasing pack looks truer than ever.

Bristol City have won eight out of their last 11, and although Cardiff’s 13-match unbeaten run was ended by struggling Southampton at the weekend, the results of those immediately below the top three are far better than the leading trio.

Reading might have two games in hand, but eight of their 13 remaining matches are away, while they finish at home to Blues.

It’s still in your hands, Wolves.

By Tim Nash