Matt Murray: Wolves leave a mighty footprint on the league
The Wolves victory at Brentford was a stamp of authority that has left a huge footprint on League One – a performance of class and commitment with three fine goals and another clean sheet.
Brentford's phenomenal run of 19 unbeaten matches came to a shuddering halt. We knew this top-of- the-table clash would tell us exactly where Wolves are – and that is firm favourites not just for automatic promotion but the League One title. On our day nobody can touch us.
It was not just the manner of the win, we know Wolves are blessed with talented, skilful young players. It was the application; the ability to adapt to a small pitch and a tricky surface and still come out on top.
In the lower leagues you need two styles of play. You can play pretty one-two touch football on top surfaces such as Molineux. But on trickier pitches where you might need another touch to control the ball, you have to be able to mix it, as the opposition will be on top of you. We will be expected to win our postponed fixtures against Crawley and Stevenage, but Wolves will again have to adapt to the conditions and the pitches.
Mind you, once Wolves got the hang of the Griffin Park surface, we saw some sublime skills, notably the lovely one two between the exceptional Scott Golbourne and Bakary Sako, topped off by a great finish by Michael Jacobs for his second goal of the game and fourth in two matches.
Goalscoring midfielders are worth their weight in old gold and it takes the pressure off your strikers. It also meant Sky Sports Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling got to use the 'Jacobs cracker' line again!
Talking of strikers Nouha Dicko is looking really impressive. His pace is a great outlet when the game is tight. With the defence high you cannot always get it to feet and have to look to turn the opposition, using your striker's speed and strength.
Wolves have attacking threats everywhere with Jacobs, James Henry, Sako and Dicko and with Leon Clarke to return. But once again the defence was simply outstanding and the firmest of foundations for our success. That is six wins on the bounce and that breeds great confidence as well as team spirit. You can tell from the players' body language on and off the pitch there is a collective will and enthusiasm. Even those not making the starting line up are thinking 'How can I be involved? How can I contribute?'
And the contribution of the fans remains extraordinary. The away support, with the full allocation again snapped up, rocked Griffin Park on Saturday.
Kenny Jackett is not one to get carried away and he will remind his players they need to see the job through, kick on and out of this division. And then kick on again. These are hungry players who see the bigger picture, but not before the short-term goal is achieved.
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