Wolves - It's a blueprint for promotion

Wolves couldn't have much come closer to the Championship play-offs last season.

Well technically they could, but only by three goals.

The margins in the Championship, as Molineux regulars know, are as fine as in any top league in Europe, writes Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.

A large number of teams with similar resources all as desperate as the next to clamber over one another and reach the Promised Land.

Wolves have made what look to be four shrewd moves in the transfer market - bringing in Conor Coady, Jed Wallace, Adam Le Fondre and Sheyi Ojo - as last season's squad is improved on with evolution rather than revolution.

But what else must Kenny Jackett and co do to give themselves the best possible chance of promotion?

For a start it would help it they managed to sort out Kevin McDonald's contract.

The saga has already dragged on for far too long. Neither player nor head coach wanted it to continue into the season proper. But it has.

Publicly the matter has gone quiet, with talks having stalled after the two parties reach a stalemate situation.

Yes there are plenty of players - Scott Golbourne, David Edwards, James Henry and Tommy Rowe among them - out of contract next summer, but while that quartet seem intent on earning their contract through performances this season, McDonald wants his now.

And he admitted last month that it would be an unwelcome distraction.

"I didn't want to go into the last year of my contract, I wanted to get something sorted for a bit of security," he said.

"That will only bring the best out of me, I can play with freedom and relax knowing my contract's sorted. It's always in the back of your mind."

While it's important that McDonald - a key cog in the Wolves machine - is signed up, Jackett must also ward off any interest in Benik Afobe.

If the striker continues his rich 2014/15 form - and performances in pre-season suggested as much - then the Premier League vultures will circle above Molineux in January, of that there can be no doubt.

This links directly to Wolves needing to get off to a flying start.

Jackett has already highlighted the importance of the opening 10 fixtures and if Wolves harbor hopes of automatic promotion then an excellent start is the best way to do it.

Playing catch-up and storming up the league in the final months is always a possibility of course, with Reading in 2012 the exception to the rule, but like Leicester in 2014 and of course Wolves in 2009, you want to get to the top and stay there.

Wolves face a tough trip to Blackburn tomorrow and then host relegated duo Hull City and QPR - but the following seven fixtures are against teams who finished outside the top 10 of last season's Championship, or in Preston's case, were in League One.

An ideal opportunity then to pick up where they left off in May.

Wolves accrued 20 points from their final 10 games in 2014/15 - a repeat performance for the opening 10 this season would set them up perfectly.

It would also get the fans onside. Expectations are bound to be higher this time around after two seasons where it felt like the pressure was off.

Judging opinion from Twitter and message boards is for the most part inadvisable but the online unrest was mirrored in the stands for the first 20 minutes of the Villa friendly, when the moans and groans were very audible before Wolves belatedly clicked into gear.

Promotion is the stated aim of Jackett, his players and the supporters, and as Jackett said after the Villa game: "I felt there was a link with the supporters and the players, they could see some effort and at times some quality and certainly some character.

"If we're going to be successful we need to develop that link, keep it and work hard to try to bring it on if we can."

Talking of Jackett, he needs to ensure Wolves don't get found out this season, as they did last time around, particularly during the horror-show that was November when Wolves lost all four matches including a 5-0 tonking at Derby.

The Wolves boss has been working on a Plan B during pre-season, tinkering and experimenting with a number of different formations and trying to ensure his team aren't as reliant on wingers as they were last year.

He also needs to be smart when the time comes to rotate the squad.

Forty-six games is a long old slog but with the loan signings of Ojo and Le Fondre the squad now looks almost full of options.

Another winger, a fourth senior striker if Bright Enobakhare doesn't prove himself to be ready, and an experienced goalkeeper (which would enable Aaron McCarey to go on what could be a breakthrough loan season in league football) would be welcome too.

Finding a winning formula is one thing but with the Premier League's riches dripping down the pyramid the Championship is a squad game now.

And with Jackett placing such an emphasis on youth, knowing when to rest his still relatively inexperienced players from the rigours of the Championship will play an important part in the campaign.

Just as important is the need to have a watertight defence. Jackett has forged a settled back five with Ikeme, Iorfa, Stearman, Batth and Golbourne likely to be on his team sheet for the vast majority of the season, barring injury or loss of form.

A solid back line is the foundation for any promotion campaign. Wolves looked anything but solid against Villa and Doncaster in pre-season and if they continue making individual errors from tomorrow onwards they will leak goals.

The addition of Coady adds welcome bite to the midfield and if Batth and Golbourne match the levels shown by Iorfa and Stearman last season then Wolves will prosper.

So there you have it. Sounds easy right?

Whatever happens it's bound to be a rollercoaster ride - Wolves don't know any different.

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