Danny Batth: Wolves will ignore form book

Captain Danny Batth has warned his Wolves team-mates to ignore the form book for tomorrow's derby.

Birmingham go into the Molineux showdown after their 8-0 record home defeat to Bournemouth and with just two league wins all season and three straight defeats.

In contrast Wolves are joint-top, 15 points and 20 places above Blues and boast the Championship's best home record. But Brierley Hill-born Batth believes the fact it's a local derby will be a great leveller.

"Form goes out of the window in derbies, I know that from having played in a few myself," said the skipper.

"It's a case of a blank canvas and you have to earn the right to play. Their fans will be quick to get up for that game and likewise ours will as well."

Batth has been steeped in Wolves since he joined the club as an 11-year-old.

But, after being raised in the area, he is well aware of the rivalries with the other West Midlands clubs.

"Throughout my time growing up I've heard what the fans have to say about local rivals," he said.

"They're games that divide opinions and families and they're stand-out games where form goes out of the window and we're all looking forward to it."

Batth will come face to face in opposition for the first time with midfielder David Davis, one of his fellow Molineux academy graduates.

The pair actually helped Wolves to beat Blues the last time the sides met at St. Andrew's on April Fools Day 2013, when Dean Saunders' side won 3-2.

Davis was man of the match and Batth appeared as a late substitute for first goalscorer Stephen Hunt.

And Batth believes Davis, who made 61 appearances in gold and black across three divisions, will have given his Blues colleagues the full low-down on his old team-mates.

"Dave was at Wolves for a long time so he knows what we're all about," said Batth.

"He'll be desperate to play against us and hopefully we can keep him quiet coming back here.

"We'll make sure we're fit and strong for the game against Birmingham and also give our home fans something to enjoy."

And Batth has pinpointed the strength in depth of Kenny Jackett's squad as a key factor in their success. "Leon Clarke was out of the team at the start of the season but it speaks volumes for the quality of the squad that players such as he and Michael Jacobs have been out of the side as well," he said.

"Jakesy came in on Saturday and had a good first half.

"They've all got points to prove and you need more than 11 players and the lads that have come off the bench and into the team have had something to say about results and they did it last Saturday."

Wolves won 2-1 at Leeds without the injured Bakary Sako, who is expected to return from a groin strain tomorrow.

"It shows we have other points of attack," said Batth.

"Nouha Dicko worked his socks off last Saturday, as did Dave Edwards and we've got good options.

"For a team that has just come up, we've already got a decent points total but we'll keep our heads down and try to add to that."

Batth believes last week's match-winner Clarke is ready to cash in on the fans' increased support.

Supporters have recently started a 'If Leon scores, we're on the pitch' chant' while they have also adopted 'Wanderers number nine' song previously used for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in his honour.

"Throughout his career he's been misunderstood – he's a great lad and everyone in the dressing room loves him," said the defender.

"We're all happy that he got his goal and hopefully it's the start of good things to come from him.

"It's been a long time coming for Wolves so far but his record shows he can get goals. He was excellent in pre-season and he had a point to prove on Saturday."