Interview: John Ruddy has burning Premier League desire with Wolves – and England ambitions

But it's the signing of a man they didn't spend a penny on which could prove their shrewdest business of all if promotion is achieved in the coming months.

John Ruddy has been a consistent and steady presence between the sticks since joining in July. Not that he's had a fat lot to do in recent weeks, making just two saves in Wolves' past three matches behind a disciplined and organised defensive rearguard.

Wolves' latest shut-out at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday gave Ruddy his 12th clean sheet in 22 league appearances – the highest in the country.

The 31-year-old, while proud of that record, insisted it was a team effort – from front to back.

"It's really pleasing for me as an individual but more so for us as a team," Ruddy told the Express & Star.

"To do that, as a collective. I can't take the credit for an awful lot of that. The lads in front of me have been superb.

"When called upon if I can help them out by doing what I needed to do then that's what I'm there for.

"It's not just the defence – it starts from the front with the intensity from the front lads which is a massive part of it and filters through the team.

"The key thing is you have a manager who sets out how he wants things done and if you're not doing it you won't play.

"I think that's a fantastic ethos to have. A lot of people have spoken about the resources we have and the players we've brought in but if you haven't got the unity and the togetherness and the actual method of players buying into it then it doesn't matter how good they are.

"You can't play as individuals, everyone knows that. We are really working well as a team and that's the main thing that's carrying us through the season."

Ruddy wasn't short of offers when he left Norwich City in the summer after seven years at Carrow Road.

After taking some long overdue time out to spend time with his family, it became clear that Wolves was the club for him – a decision which already looks to be the right one.

"I had a couple of early offers but I didn't want to jump in with the first one that came, I wanted to take my time and think about it," Ruddy said.

"I knew there'd be offers and to be fair I was enjoying my holiday as well!

"I'd got to a point I was enjoying semi retirement! Spending time with my family and being with the kids and the missus, it was something I've never experienced before and I was very relaxed about the situation.

"We had a choice to make. When Wolves came in there were a couple of offers on the table as well.

"Wolves just felt right. It felt exciting, I spoke to the manager and he laid out his plans and ambitions.

"Everyone's ambitions were really high and that matched me and my own ambitions because I want and need to progress."

Those ambitions are clear in Ruddy's mind. As a player who spent four seasons in the Premier League with Norwich, he wants to get back to where he feels he belongs.

Ruddy also harbours hopes of returning to the England setup. He earned numerous call-ups and won one cap, under Roy Hodgson in 2012.

While the primary focus is of course very much on the here and now with Wolves, Ruddy has a dream scenario in the back of his mind of being a Premier League regular at Molineux and back in the England fold.

"Ultimately, like everyone here, I want to be in the Premier League," he added. "That motivates me. As nice as it is to have promotions from the Championship, they're long, hard seasons.

"I'd rather not have to keep doing it and keep challenging – I'd much rather, as a player, be in the Premier League playing against the best in the world rather than scrapping it out in a very, very competitive division.

"From that, if you stabilise yourself in the Premier League as a goalkeeper then the England call may come knocking, but that's two or three goals down the line.

"The first goal is to make sure we're focused on what we need to do every game this season.

"The second goal is if we do match our ambitions and win promotion then to stabilise yourself in the Premier League. Then you look beyond that.

"I'd like to think if we did get to the Premier League – and this is all premature talk – this is what I feel for myself more than anything is to stabilise there.

"If it can be with Wolves and I can help Wolves progress as a club...everyone can see we're on an upward curve at the moment and of the resources available if we do get promoted are pretty hefty.

"It's about making sure, with the way I feel physically and mentally and the shape I got in at the start of this season, to then replicate that going forward for however many seasons I can."

Wolves are one of the most talked-about teams in the country at the moment. Many neutral observers believe it's just a matter of when, not if, Nuno Espirito Santo's team win promotion.

While confident of their chances, Ruddy knows it could only take one result for things to turn.

"It's nice being talked about but it only takes one moment or one disappointing result to change all that," he added.

"Burnley are the same at the moment, everyone's talking about them as they're in sixth place – touch wood they don't, for their sake, but if they have a couple of bad results they'll slip down and everyone will stop talking about them.

"That's the fickleness of football. If you're riding the crest of a wave everyone wants to be part of it. If things don't go so well no one wants to.

"As a group we have fantastic solidarity and unity. We make sure our focus is fully on every single game on our group and what we can affect."