Wolves defender Matt Hill may have had a sleepless night last night – but not about facing one of Birmingham’s big guns James McFadden or Sebastian Larsson.

Far from fretting about stopping the silky Scot or great Dane, the Wolves left-back is still far more bothered about securing his name on the team-sheet than who he might be marking.

As the bubbly Bristolian reveals, he’s more concerned about impressing in training to keep the claims of Stephen Ward at bay.

Talking about the challenge of stopping Larsson or McFadden, Hill said: “It’s a challenge – I’d be foolish not to say that.

“It’s a good test and if selected, I’m looking forward to it.  If I’m in the team, hopefully I can dominate my man and keep him quiet that would be great.

“But, no disrespect to the Blues lads, I’m still more worried about staying in the team!

“I’ve got Stephen Ward breathing down my neck and I know that if I don’t perform, Wardy will play left-back.

“Jody Craddock knows Richard Stearman and Neill Collins want to play – you have to perform if you want to keep your place.”

Hill’s latest arrival in the team coincided with the start of Wolves’ five-match unbeaten run during which they have conceded just one goal.

But, after a four-month wait for his Wolves debut and a subsequent three-month delay to establish himself in the side, the 28-year-old insists he can’t look any further than staying in boss Mick McCarthy’s thoughts.

He said: “I’ve played in big games before but for me this is slightly different, because I’ve come in from not playing at all to being involved and I just want to play a big part in this final run-in.

“I was waiting for my chance for a while and it’s a challenge just to stay in the side for me.  I’m not looking any further than that, rather than winning the game or promotion.

“For me, achievement is just trying to stay in the side and get a regular slot.”

Hill smiles at the term “unsung hero” and it’s clear this is a man who’s happy without the headlines and just wants to do a good job for the team. His recent performances certainly echo that.

He said: “I’d like to think I’m strong in the defensive aspect. I’d like to add a bit more in terms of going forward, but my first objective is to defend and things have been going well in a partnership between the whole back five really.

“It would be good to continue that, but it’s good to just go about your job.  Kevin Foley has done that – he’s been hyped up a bit as well, but essentially he’s just got on with his job.”

Hill returned to the side just after the in-form Craddock, and he puts the improvement down to the fact they have been able to develop an understanding.

He said: “There’s been a lot of hard work done in training, along with good communication with the lads and the lads have developed a good understanding.

“But when Stephen Ward and lads such as Richard Stearman and Neill Collins have played, they’ve done well too.

“It was just unfortunate that we had a period where we weren’t picking up results. Fortunately for me, I’ve come into the team and been involved in some good results.”

Victory at St Andrew’s will put Wolves eight points clear of Blues and 11 points clear of the play-offs with five games left.

Hill admits the advantage would be a huge lift but he insists Wolves won’t be taking their foot off the gas until they secure promotion.

He said: “It would be a psychological boost and we’re going there to win. It’s in our hands. We’re all here to play at the highest level but until someone says we’re mathematically there and it’s happened, no one here will get carried away.”

That down-to-earth approach has been drummed into the players all season and they are continually reminded of the need to get the basics right every day on the Compton training pitches, where the spirit bonds all of them.

Hill said: “You look in training and the standard is so high – even say, last Thursday when we still had the international lads away. There’s no player sulking because they’re not involved.

“Players who are out get disappointed but everyone is behind everyone else – you can see everyone doing the little high-fives as they greet each other and it shows we’re all going in one direction.

“There’s a tremendous bond between the lads – not many of us have played in the Premier League, so we’re all hungry to succeed.”

Despite his experience of two play-offs with Preston and the Wolves player with his second highest number of senior appearances (376) behind Craddock, Hill admits the team’s place at the top is new territory for him.

He said: “At Preston we were never in the position Wolves are in now. We were always in and around the play-offs but not like we are now, leading the way.

“But the pressure is the same – to maintain those standards.

“Playing well and winning games breeds confidence and you can see it in the lads since we’ve picked up again.”