How do Wolves' goalkeepers rate?
Wolves goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain has given the Express & Star his expert view on how his five keepers have performed this season.
It's been an interesting year for all five.
Carl Ikeme battled back from being dropped to produce some of his best performances for the club - and finally won international recognition with Nigeria.
Emiliano Martinez arrived on loan from Arsenal with a big reputation and despite a shaky start showed his class before an injury saw Ikeme reclaim the jersey.
Aaron McCarey endured a frustrating campaign which began under a cloud and ended with him being released. He has since joined Ross County.
Jon Flatt won a league title, playing 10 games for Cheltenham on loan at the end of their National League championship triumph.
And Harry Burgoyne, in his first year as a professional, enjoyed three loan spells and established himself as an exciting prospect for the future.
It's Mountain's job to oversee their progress. And the popular Welshman, who joined the club in 2008, gave the full lowdown to Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.
CARL IKEME
Definitely, in terms of his form since Ipswich away (in November), his performances, his effect on the team and the younger players has been magnificent.
I can't speak highly enough of him, with how professional and committed he stayed (after being dropped).
In terms of how many goals he thinks he's cost us, how many ones he could have done better with...you'd say it's under five where he'd say it was definitely his fault.
He's obviously really proud of himself for being called up for Nigeria - it does mean a lot to him.
It was ironic he got his first ever call up after he lost his place at Wolves, but that's football, crazy things happen.
He's enjoyed being an international footballer – he certainly comes back with some stories every time he goes away with them.
But he really wants to play for them and you can see how football-mad that nation is.
As a goalkeeper as you get older your decision-making becomes more accurate and consistent.
Danny Batth's the captain and then you've got Dave Edwards and Carl are the senior players who show the way.
We were probably the only ones satisfied with getting four 0-0s on the spin at home!
EMILIANO MARTINEZ
He's a top young goalkeeper - he'll play in the Premier League.
Just the same as Carl he understands the situation, he supported him and helped him and Carl did exactly the same.
You normally find that with goalkeepers; there aren't many that are in-fighting against each other.
His training and dedication has been excellent.
It was a tough start for him and you've got to find your way, especially when he was replacing Carl who is highly thought of by the supporters, the players, the staff, everybody. So I'd imagine that's quite a difficult scenario for Emi to come into.
In those 11 games he showed everyone what a good keeper he is, and he'd have performed to that level if he had to come in at the end of the season.
Unfortunately for him Carl got back in the team because of Emi's injury and then performed consistently well.
I'm sure he'll be better for the experience at Wolves, and probably better for being left out of the team as well because that's going to happen in his career at some point.
Aged 23, he's played something like 35 first-team games so he's relatively inexperienced.
But I've no doubt he'll play in the Premier League, whether that's for Arsenal or not.
AARON MCCAREY
It's been frustrating. Ideally he'd have gone and got more football and played more games.
He had the difficulties of all that went on over the summer, so it was difficult for him to come back in.
He went on loan at Portsmouth and did well, and then the shenanigans at Bury where he only went for one game.
Since then - it's not his fault - we've needed another goalkeeper around.
If you look at big clubs they've got three (first-team) goalkeepers. One of them might play in the cups and then the other one's not really playing.
That's how it turned out for Aaron.
It's tough for a manager to put a young goalie in the team, you need to go lower down the leagues to get your experience.
It happened to Wayne Hennessey, Matt Murray and Carl.
Carl went on loan to nearly every Football League club twice before he got his chance here!
So playing football is what he needs to do now at 24 otherwise his career will peter out. He needs to play.
He's proved he can play at big clubs with a lot of expectations at ourselves and Portsmouth.
And in the past two months of the season it's the best I've ever seen him train.
He's a good character and his attitude is different class.
JON FLATT
He went out on loan at Cheltenham for 10 games and won a league, which is no mean feat at any standard.
Cheltenham were only one point ahead of Forest Green when he went there – they won the league by 12 points.
He went in at a tricky time as well.
I went to see him every time I could, whenever there wasn't a Wolves game at the same time.
And I spoke to their guys every week and he settled in really well.
Dillon Phillips on loan from Charlton was injured so they brought Flatty in. They really liked Dillon and he was a bit of a hero, they thought he was the top guy in the league.
For Jon to go in and replace him, just after Cheltenham had lost their first game for something like 23 games, having a wobble, was very difficult.
But he showed he's more than capable at that level and can kick on with Wolves, or the next level up (from Cheltenham).
Hopefully he'll keep playing games next year. Maybe he goes back out on loan, maybe he's understudy to Carl here, who knows.
What he needs to do is make the most of winning the league, as it might not ever happen again in his career.
He's shown he can play under pressure, a bit like Aaron has.
He suited Cheltenham really well. They maybe didn't play out as much as he would do in the under-21s here so he had to get used to kicking 30 or 40 balls long every game which is a bit like Championship football.
His attitude means that he'll play at the highest level he can, because his attitude is unbelievable.
HARRY BURGOYNE
He's had three loans and played 20 first-team games, as an 18/19-year-old first-year pro.
That'll put him in good stead – first team football is what it's all about, especially for a goalkeeper.
You can't beat it where the three points really matter, there's a crowd giving you hassle, there's the pressure of if you make a mistake it'll cost your team mates a few quid that they really need.
He went to Lowestoft who were near the bottom of the league, they got a few wins and he helped kick-start them.
Then he went to Corby, roughly in a similar position and again helped them get a couple of wins, and since he left they dropped and dropped.
Then he went to Telford where they were struggling and again helped them.
James Montgomery came back fit and they wanted to go with someone a bit more experienced. It was a little bit disappointing for Harry who thought he was going to see the season through, but that's how it goes.
To play 20 men's first-team games in a year is very good at his age.
He's got enough to say for himself! He's a great lad, wants to play matches and get better.
He's got as good a career ahead of him as his attitude takes him.
SAVES OF THE SEASON
In no particular order, Mountain's Wolves saves of the season are...
Emi Martinez v Tomer Hemed (Brighton, September 19) - It's 0-0 at Molineux and Brighton have a penalty. Martinez guesses right and saves from Hemed - and then reacts quickly to smother the rebound and earn Wolves a point.
Carl Ikeme v David Davis (Blues, March 13) - Blues have hammered Wolves for almost the entire second half and they look set to finally score when ex-Wolves man Davis breaks into the box. But Ikeme denies his old team mate with a superb save, pushing the ball strongly to safety.
Carl Ikeme v Jordi Gomez (Blackburn, April 9) - Wonderful fingertip reactions from Ikeme who improbably pushes Gomez's 25-yard piledriver onto the bar.
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