Wolves blog: Is the FA Cup a welcome distraction?
Wolves welcome runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea to Molineux this weekend...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.
Usually, there would be no expectancy and little hope of achieving a result against such a superior side.
Having won just nine league games this season, Wolves can forget about their Championship woes for a few days and focus on a huge occasion.
There should be no pressure on the team who have nothing to lose.
The way they set out against Liverpool suits them superbly, with a tireless battling midfield and fast counter-attacking players.
Unfortunately, these same players seem to have trouble when they are the dominant side in a match.
Against Wigan on Tuesday, Wolves had no way through the Wigan defence. Aside from a spell at the beginning of the second half when they kept the ball on the ground, they resorted to a lot of fruitless long balls to Bodvarsson.
He was given a difficult task made harder by the presence of six foot seven defender Dan Burn, who barely had to jump to win the ball.
After this weekend's game, Wolves really need to find a way to win games when the opposition sit off them.
In nine matches against the six teams below Wolves, they have won only twice.
They have lost four of them and average just a point a game against these teams.
Costa is beginning to get marked out of games which strangles Wolves' main creative outlet.
Connor Ronan's performance was a breath of fresh air on Tuesday, always wanting to get on the ball and looking to create.
Bright Enobakhare is improving - although his decision making lets him down at times, he wins plenty of free kicks and has quicker feet than even he can manage.
A key dilemma is the forward role – Bodvarsson cannot be considered as a 'striker' when playing the lone role.
On one occasion on Tuesday, Costa had the ball in the Wigan box, but instead of finding a goal scoring position Bodvarsson came to support Costa, stifling the attack as there was nobody to finish the move.
As a counter-attacking player Bodvarsson is superb – his runs down the line against Liverpool put a lot of pressure on their defence.
When Wolves are pressing, he just does not create space for himself or get into dangerous positions.
Over the last five Championship seasons, an average of 45 points has been enough to keep a side in the league.
Wolves, on 35 points, are nearly at this total, although they were relegated in 2013 despite having accumulated 14 wins and 51 points.
This total would be enough to finish 18th or 19th in the other four years.
While it is unlikely that Wolves will get relegated, it would be at their peril to be complacent.
For this weekend, Wolves can focus on what could be their last 'free hit' game of the season.