Not much has gone Town’s way this season, they’ve rarely picked up three points let alone two wins in a row. The 2-1 victory against Bournemouth will have been a welcome boost and has seen some shoots of hope emerge back into the fanbase.

Coming up, Town have two of the three teams they have beaten this season in back-to-back games. This one is hugely important. Town in 18th only realistically have Wolves to chase. They beat them 2-1 at Molineux back in December, that result effectively costing Gary O’Neill his job and he was swiftly replaced by Vitor Pereira after that match.

A new manager bounce followed with Wolves crucially beating Leicester and Manchester United. Since Pereira joined, they have picked up a point against Tottenham and beaten Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Southampton and, most recently, Town’s last opponents of the season West Ham.

Last Time Out (Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Ipswich Town)

Town started the game brightly and got the opening goal on 15 minutes. Liam Delap picked up the ball deep in the Wolves half and went on one of his trademark runs, shrugging off defenders to force his way into the box.

His angle was narrow and he made the right decision to square the ball to Omari Hutchinson with a pass that was a little heavy. Hutchinson struggled to control, the ball getting stuck under his feet but used good skill to sidestep Sam Johnstone in the Wolves goal and get a shot away.

That was blocked on the line by Matt Doherty but it fell kindly for Conor Chaplin who took one touch to set himself and then fired off a shot. The goalbound effort was headed away by Nelson Semedo but he could only head it straight onto the back of the aforementioned Doherty with the ball trickling over the line into the Wolves net.

A sweeping left to right move saw Sam Morsy find Wes Burns in space on the right-hand side of the pitch and the Welshman’s fierce shot tested Johnstone in goal as Town pushed for a second.

Burns was at it again later on, being found in space by a lovely reverse ball from Chaplin before deliver a wicked cross that Delap was unable to turn home, the ball instead bouncing off his knee and out for a goal kick.

Wolves pulled back to level terms in the 75th minute when Goncalo Guedes, on for Doherty, found Matheus Cuhna, who had run off the back of Dara O’Shea, and the Brazilian fired in from a tight angle at Aro Muric’s near post.

Guedes’s arrival had given Wolves momentum and they were the side that looked the most likely to win in right until the last kick of the game.

Jack Clarke was the man who spotted the ball up on the corner spot, a screen of Town players charged towards the near post drawing away all of Wolves covering defenders and leaving Jack Taylor alone and unmarked to head home and spark jubilant scenes in the away stand and secure Town’s second win of the season.

It was very much a smash and grab victory. Town faced 16 shots, six of which were on target but did create some good chances themselves.

Wolves have only managed more shots against Brentford, West Ham and Fulham in a match all season. Interestingly, they lost all those games.

They’ve had the joint-most penalties in the Premier League, scoring six out of seven and have yet to concede a single one.

Players to watch

Jorgen Strand Larsen

It was the big Norwegian's brace before the international break that got another three points on the board as Wolves beat Southampton 2-1. That put him up to nine goals for the season but was the first time he’d found the back of the net since December.

He added another strike from outside the box on Tuesday night against West Ham and looks to be coming into this one on a bit of a hot streak. He provides the focal point for the Wolves attack, occupies defenders, but is also not short on pace which makes him a threat and he’s more than making up for the loss of Cuhna.

Matt Doherty

Credited with the unfortunate own goal following a double deflection off Chaplin’s goalbound shot in the reverse fixture, Doherty has since gone on to become a key fixture in the Wolves defence under the new manager, putting is consistent performances and getting himself on the scoresheet against Chelsea.

The Irish international carried that form into the international break and also netted against Bulgaria in the Nations League.

Jean Ricner Bellegarde

Another player who has profited from the manager change is Bellegarde. Largely used as a versatile sub by O’Neil, he has instead slotted into one of the two number ten roles behind the main striker that Pereira likes to play with and now has one goal and four assists under his new manager. He set up both of Strand Larsen’s goals against Southampton.

The Teams

The biggest team news from a Wolves perspective is the fact that Matheus Cunha will be missing having been handed an extended four game ban for kicking out at and headbutting Milos Kerkez is the FA Cup. The Brazilian’s 17 goal contributions represent 43% of his teams' goals so they are sure to feel his absence.

His stand-in for recent games has been January signing Marshall Munetsi, who is likely to start this one, as is fellow new boy Emmanuel Agbadou at the heart of defence. Both players were signed from Ligue 1 side Reims.

Jose Sa has also ousted Johnstone from the goal and found some more consistent form following a shaky start to the season which saw him dropped by O’Neill.

For Town, the win against Bournemouth looks to have finally found our most stable back four, five if you include Alex Palmer in goal. That’s likely to continue and ahead of that I can only see one change. If Kalvin Phillips is fit enough to start, I think he’ll come in to replace Morsy, otherwise it could well be an unchanged XI.

Prediction

I was probably one of not many Town fans who felt quietly confident going into the Bournemouth game and my score prediction turned out to be correct.

Whilst Bournemouth are on a bit of a slide, Wolves have put together some good performances and results in recent weeks and look a far better team under Pereira.

Town’s form at Portman Road has also been questionable. I’d love our first double of the season and our first back-to-back wins but I don’t quite see it. I’m going for a 1-1 draw, but I hope to be proved wrong.

hamish added 11:09 - Apr 4 Well you have to be proved wrong. If there was ever a must win game, this is it. Our final four games are definitely winnable, but we cannot let the gap get to 12 points or even to stay at 9. BTW Everton's next four games are horrendous; maybe they could conceivably be dragged back into it??
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