Wolves legend Steve Bull gives it to you straight in his weekly column and believes the visit of Stoke can be the barometer of how far the team have come this season.

I mentioned Arsene Wenger’s paranoia about tackles last week and, the way I see it, the Arsenal manager and his players had a huge influence on the referee last time out.

Arsenal surrounded the official after Karl Henry’s challenge who did not go in late, high or too hard. Admittedly he caught Tomas Rosicky on the ankle but it was a yellow card at most, and I felt the Czech player made the most of the challenge.

Rosicky was rolling around in pain but, after 10 seconds, was up and running down the field. You can’t do that because in my book it is cheating.

Wolves face three games without their captain after the club decided not to appeal and, while it’s a decision I understand, I would have liked them to have taken it up with the FA.

These days there is this fear of the frivolous appeals rule, where players can end up with longer suspensions, but if you feel something is right you should appeal to try and make sure justice is done.

Karl will be missed in the next three games because he has surprised me, as well as a few Wolves fans, with how well he has stepped up to the mark in the Premier League.

He’s got great leadership skills and leads by example, but we’ve got players in the squad who can fill the gap. I’d like to see Adlene Guedioura get the nod, because he’s done well at times this season and is a threat going forward.

Against Stoke that could be useful, because they have got a very strong defensive record away from home so Wolves need to put an end to that! We are still in a good position, five points clear with five games to go, and the way we’ve been playing I’m not concerned about any opponent.

Stoke have proved that their direct approach works in the top flight. Tony Pulis likes to buy 6ft-plus players who are dangerous at the attacking end and equally capable of shutting up shop. They have also got a striker in Ricardo Fuller who is in great form.

They often rely on the long throw to get the ball into the box but we’ve got different weapons. We’ll have to deal with their threats though so Jody Craddock and Christophe Berra have basically got to treat their throw-ins as corners.

I’m looking forward to seeing them this Sunday, because they are a good measure for our club. We can check how our development into a Premier League team is progressing, because they have made that transition and we want to do the same.

They are a role model for us in that respect, because we can learn from what they have done to stick in this league.

The other teams are hardly pulling out all the stops at the moment and Hull play Burnley this weekend. That’s a crunch game so if they cancel each other out and we can get something against Stoke, then the games are running out for them to catch us.

We’re almost there but I won’t be happy until it is official,  only then will I get the cigars out! I’m hoping the last two fixtures of the season won’t have anything riding on them, so that we can go out for our final game against Sunderland and have a party day.

If we manage that then it will be no less than our fans deserve. I was among them at the Emirates Stadium and they were fantastic, outsinging the enormous Arsenal crowd for 93-and-a-half minutes.

They certainly inspired goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, who turned in another performance on par with the Everton game. Defenders love having a man behind them in this kind of form behind them and he’s definitely done enough to earn another year’s contract at Molineux.

If he keeps himself fit he could break Denis Irwin’s record as the oldest player to represent the club, although I doubt he’ll be focused on that just yet. I know I never looked at records while I was playing. I rarely knew about them until they were broken because all I thought about was scoring in – and winning – the next game.

BULLY’S TIP OF THE WEEK: -

This week is your final chance to win a behind the scenes experience at Molineux, shadowing the club’s press officer by playing the Wolves Accumulator, so sign up and get involved at www.sportingbet.com/wolves.

Predict the match result, correct score and first goalscorer and, if you’re lucky enough to beat me, Sportingbet will fund your account with a £5 Free Bet.