Express & Star

Wolves blog: So this is how it feels to lose!

If this is the closest Wolves come to a crisis this season, we are doing very well...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.

Published

Plenty of negativity has come out after the defeat to Swansea, although it is paralleled by those playing down the meaning of the result.

We all seem to have forgotten how it feels not to win game upon game, but two of the last three games have seen a well-changed side face Premier League opposition, who were themselves fielding a changed eleven.

Perhaps there was some expectancy and overestimating the strength of Wolves’ backup players, after such a pleasing performance in the League Cup, culminating in a heroic battle at the Etihad.

Nevertheless, it is the third straight game Wolves have failed to win, and only one goal has been scored in those three games, two of which have been against the Swans.

Wolves have only scored 11 goals in their last ten matches, winning five and drawing four of them before being knocked out of the cup.

If a ‘crisis’ still returns the equivalent of 19 points from ten games, just shy of the promotion-winning target of two points per game, things can’t be that bad.

They haven’t lost in the league since October – and come 5pm on Saturday, they will have played double the amount of games since then without further increasing the losses column.

There is still a week-and-a-half for the club to bring in any firepower they feel necessary to push Wolves over the line.

But Wolves are still in one of the most enviable positions the Championship has ever seen at this stage – maybe we just need something to complain about!

It is worth comparing with each of Wolves’ last three promotion seasons for some perspective.

In League One, Wolves were actually in third place after 27 games, on 55 points - four points behind leaders Brentford.

They went on to rack up nine wins on the bounce to go top, including a run of six games without conceding, but were still only three points clear of third place after that.

They ended the season nine points clear of second and 17 clear of Leyton Orient in third.

The last time Wolves got promoted to the Premier League in 2009, they won the league despite having a woeful January and February, winning only one of nine league games.

They sat four points clear of Reading in second and seven clear of third-placed Birmingham at the same stage that season.

They ended the season ten points clear of third place.

In 2002/03, when Wolves were promoted after a special day in Cardiff, they did end the season 22 points behind winners Portsmouth.

They had 41 points at this stage, sitting in eighth place and 18 points off the top – but went into the playoffs with only three losses from January 2003 until the end of the season, including losing to Southampton in the FA Cup Sixth Round.

There can be no room for complacency for Nuno’s men though – in 2001/02, Wolves sat ten points clear of West Brom in third place with nine games to go.

The rest, as Wolves fans know all too well, is history.

Whatever happened against Swansea, it is back to league action with a full-strength team against Forest this weekend – and a chance for Nuno and his squad to earn another three points in their quest for promotion.