Ruthless Matt Doherty out to finish Wolves job early

Wolves are 11 clear of Cardiff and 13 ahead of third-placed Villa ahead of a full round of midweek fixtures.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Preston means Wolves have lost just once in their last17 games.

And Doherty said Wolves won’t be taking their foot off the gas despite their big lead at the top.

“We’ll take a draw, Villa lost which helps,” he said of Saturday’s point.

“Villa won seven in a row and they’re still 13 points behind us which just goes to show the work that we’ve done in the earlier part of the season, which might allow us to have a draw here or there and not sweat too much over it. It’s a nice position to be in.

“I’d rather be 11 points clear than one clear. It helps.

“It doesn’t make us take our foot off the gas at all – we wouldn’t be allowed to do that – we want to get as many points as we can and get it over with as soon as we can.

“A point’s a point but we are disappointed.”

Wolves face Norwich at Molineux tomorrow before travelling to play in-form Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have beaten both of those sides already this season but Doherty believes opposition teams are adapting their games when facing Wolves second time around.

When asked if teams are raising their game against the league leaders, the Irishman said: “That’s 100 per cent accurate in my opinion.

“They play differently, in terms of shape or how attack minded they might be, certainly second time round.

“First time round in the season they might have played the wrong way and they realise that they would have got picked apart.

“Not every team does it – some of the bigger teams will still back themselves.”