Wolves currently sit in seventh place in the Premier League and 12 points off Arsenal in sixth. They have been in excellent form this season and have adapted to life in the Premier League like a duck to water. If Wolves finish the season in seventh place, it will be the highest position a newly promoted Premier League team has achieved since Ipswich Town who finished 5th in the 2000/01 season.
As for ourselves, following this difficult match at Molinuex, we have two must-win matches on the horizon. We will not be playing next week because we are out of the FA Cup but in two weeks time, we will come up against Huddersfield and Burnley both at home in the space of a week. These matches remind me of last March when we beat Southampton at home in a must-win game and that began a four-game winning streak that saw us to safety and a top half finish. It's still possible, so let's hope for something similar this time around.
Facts and Figures
All Competitions
Wolves wins: 40
Newcastle wins: 32
Draws: 23
Top flight
Wolves wins: 29
Newcastle wins: 27
Draws: 17
Top flight at Wolves
Wolves wins: 22
Draws: 9
Newcastle wins: 5
Previous ten (all competitions)
Newcastle wins: 4 (15 goals)
Draws: 4
Wolves wins: 2 (11 goals)
Biggest wins: Wolves 1 - 3 Newcastle United (12/11/1904)
Wolves 0 - 2 Newcastle United (17/03/1906)
Wolves 1 - 3 Newcastle United (20/09/1958)
Biggest defeats: Wolves 5 - 0 Newcastle United (23/11/1968)
Wolves 5 - 0 Newcastle United (10/04/1976)
Biggest aggregate win: Newcastle United 10 - 0 Wolves (8-0 and 2-0: 1905/06 season)
Biggest aggregate defeat: Newcastle United 2 - 7 Wolves (0-3 and 2-4: 1902/03 season). Newcastle United 3 - 8 Wolves (1-2 and 2-6: 1991/92 season).
Memory Lane
Wolves 1 - 2 Newcastle United - 01/10/2011 (Premier League)
For the first time since August 1997, Newcastle United went on an unbeaten run of 10 Premier League matches, a run that stretched back to the last few games of the previous season. The unbeaten run later came to an end in November against eventual league winners, Manchester City but the unbeaten start was a big factor in qualifying for European football for the first time since 2007.
Tim Krul: This was one of the many matches when Krul was on top of his game. At the start of the season, he had replaced Steve Harper as the leading goalkeeper. In this match, he made an excellent double save in the closing stages to deny Wolves a late equaliser.
Danny Simpson:
Fabricio Coloccini:
Steven Taylor:
Ryan Taylor:
Gabriel Obertan:
Yohan Cabaye: The new signing on Tyneside was fast becoming a fan favourite with his composure and the ball and ability to pick a pass being just some of the many good qualities Cabaye had in his locker. He provided the assist for Demba Ba to break the deadlock after 17 minutes as he took a corner which was headed in at the near post.
Cheick Tiote:
Jonas Gutierrez: The Argentine midfielder doubled the lead after 38 minutes with a left-footed strike low into the corner. As it turned out, of course, the goal put Wolves out of sight by just enough as they hit back with a late consolation goal from Steven Fletcher. Gutierrez's previous goal also came against Wolves six months prior to this game.
Leon Best:
Demba Ba: The good form of new signing, Demba Ba continued as he scored opening goal with a header from a corner to make it four goals in two matches following his hat-trick at home to Blackburn the previous weekend. Later that month, he scored his second hat-trick for the club against Stoke to put him joint top of the leaderboard of Newcastle's Premier League hat-tricks. He went on to finish as top scorer for the club that season despite his final goal coming in February but the goalscoring reins were passed over to new signing Papiss Cisse.