'The lesson for next season is clear'
The entirely unexpected victory over Manchester City at the end of September was the breakthrough result for Wolves’ season. They had taken only four points before that day, City had dropped none.
The result was a shock, but in no sense a fluke, as everyone present - up to and including Pep Guardiola - acknowledged. "We deserved it," said midfielder Mario Lemina that evening. "We had the better tactic to beat them in this game."
The players, it was evident, were fully tuned in to Gary O'Neil's wavelength by then. But that day was also the moment at which a large section of Wolves supporters - unsettled by the summer leading to Julen Lopetegui's departure and unimpressed by the appointment of O'Neil - began to give the new manager a fairer hearing.
Pulling off the same trick again on Saturday will be harder, and not only because there will not be the same Molineux volume pushing them on - although their travelling support will doubtless be clearly heard, unlike O’Neil.
Finally pushing the Football Association's patience too far with his critiques of decision-making, he will be absent from the technical area, as by coincidence Guardiola was in September.
Although they were brighter against Luton on Saturday, there is still not quite the same fizz about Wolves' forward raids as at their peak moments this season when they often embarrassed more fancied opponents who gave them room to run. Having Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha back has certainly helped, but as O'Neil explained on Saturday, there is more to fitness than merely not being injured.
"I did some work around the squad depth, not many of our players have played more than 30 games in a season very often," he said. "There is an awful lot of them out there where this is the most games they have ever had to play.
"Not only do we have a small group, we have a group that are not used to having to play 38-40-game seasons. Joao Gomes, Toti, I think this is Mario's biggest season, Cunha's biggest season - there are loads of them that have had to play an awful lot more than normal. The group have given so much to get to this point."
The lesson for next season is clear. For now, Wolves - who at least will be the team not weighed down by expectation on Saturday in Manchester - must top up their energy reserves with adrenaline, and devise a new code for City to crack.
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