Town host relegation rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers aiming to cut the gap to safety to six points, as well as claiming back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time this season and their first double of the campaign.

The Blues, who bagged their in augural Premier League win of 2025 when they defeated AFC Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday, remain 18th, nine points behind the Old Gold, who also have a goal difference which is 16 superior to Town’s, with only eight matches left to play.

Manager Kieran McKenna was asked, following the victory in Dorset, whether he has sought to calm his players down ahead of Saturday’s big game or perhaps as tried to pump them up, impressing upon them the importance of the fixture.

“It's been a pretty quick turnaround, to be honest, so it's been recovering and not too much time to build anything up yet,” he said. “So recovering from the other night but we'll be ready to go at three o'clock tomorrow.

“It goes without saying, everyone knows that it's an important game, there's not too many home games left.

“We're playing against a team that are one position higher than us in the league, so it's a game of significance. But every game is and we want to give our best, and we're going to fight really hard to win.”

He says, regardless of the situation, his approach to games remains consistent, focusing on each one as it comes along.

“If we hadn't won the other night, that would have been the biggest game of the season,” he said. “If we win this one, then the next one would be the biggest game. 

“I think we've got lots of experience in playing in big games here. They feel a little bit different at the bottom end of a league compared to the top end of a league, but our approach has always been consistent.

“To prepare for the game, focus on the details that make the difference in trying to win a football match, focus on delivering a good performance and then you've got to get your game management right to try and come out on the top of the tight margins. 

“Our process is the same, our focus is the same. We know it would be a fantastic game to win and you that's what we're going to try really hard to do.”

The Northern Irishman knows his team will need to show the same clinical edge which saw them to the win at Bournemouth, something he admits hasn’t always been the case at home this season, where the Blues have only won once in the league, the 2-0 defeat of Chelsea in December.

“Very much so,” he continued. “That's certainly what we were the other night and that is needed for us to win Premier League games. It's unlikely we're going to have nine or ten big chances in a game, so we have to be clinical when the moments arise. 

“We haven't been that in our home games. Certainly, in recent times we've had a lot more opportunities than the goals we've scored. 

“The other teams, especially in our home games, have been really really clinical against us. 

“To turn those results into more wins we need to be clinical, which we can be and which we showed the other night. We know that more often than not you're facing an opposition who, if you don't take your chances, then they very well will. So, it was a great step for us the other night to to finish the goals in the manner that we did.”

McKenna takes games in a block with the period after the international break until the end of the campaign a nine-game group, which he knows needs to be the club’s best spell of the campaign if they're to stay up.

“I think the period is coming out of the international break, we know we have nine games left and we've broken it down to pretty much a quarter of the season, and we want to have a best quarter of the season in terms of performances, in terms of results. We want to show growth as a team and we want to try and win as many games as we can.

“We know that to stay in the competition and stay in touch with the team above us, we have to pick up wins pretty quickly. We made a good start on that on Wednesday night and we're going to try and do it again on Saturday. 

“We're not looking past this game. We knew this was a quick turnaround between the two. We had full focus on Bournemouth going into Wednesday night and now we've got full focus on Wolves tomorrow.

“But the approach, if tying into anything, it's tying into the fact that we know we need to give absolutely everything we’ve got and perform as well as we can in all the remaining games and win as many as we can.”

Since the start of February, only Liverpool and Arsenal have picked up more points than the 13 - the same as Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Brighton - Wolves have secured to move them clear of the Blues.

In that time they have won four of their last seven, including their last two, a 2-1 win at rock-bottom Southampton having been followed up with a 1-0 home victory over West Ham on Tuesday, which briefly moved them 12 points ahead of Town.

On their travels this season, Wolves have won four, drawn three and lost eight. They have won their last two away games in the Premier League, having beaten AFC Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium in mid-February. In between the two recent league away wins, they were beaten by the Cherries at the same venue on penalties in the FA Cup after a 1-1 draw.

McKenna was asked whether Wolves are stronger than they were when the Blues beat them 2-1 at Molineux, a result which saw Town stay 18th, but move three points ahead of the Old Gold, who were then 19th with an inferior goal difference, and only a point behind at-the-time-17th Crystal Palace.

“I think statistically, you can't argue with it,” the Town boss reflected. “They're one of the teams in the league in better form and that's backed up by a lot of the underlying numbers as well.

“They've been in good form. I think they've always had really strong players in the squad. They also signed a couple of good players in January in [centre-back Emmanuel] Agbadou and [midfielder Marshall] Munetsi [both signed from Reims], who have been playing a bit more.

“They're really, really physical players who are able to adapt to the league quickly. And they've got a good squad, so we have respect for the level of the opponent.

“We know they're a good side but we believe in ourselves, we believe that we can compete with teams in this league and we believe we can compete with them tomorrow, and that's what we're going to try and do.”

Wolves will be without their 13-goal Premier League top scorer Matheus Cunha, who is serving the final game of his four-match ban for his red card in the FA Cup tie against Bournemouth and then refusing to leave the field.

The Black Country side haven’t appeared to miss him too much given their recent run and McKenna was asked whether they might even be stronger without the Brazilian international.

“I think that's for their judgement,” the Blues boss said. “What I would say I think that with a player like Cunha, a real top individual talent, you're not going to have absolutely everything and you can probably always find a player who can do other things better than he can. But at the same time, he can do things that very few players in the league can do.

“So where that leaves their team, that's their call. I do know that they've got good players, they've got a good squad, they've added pace and power in January and, with or without Cunha, they've shown that they can win games and and they can be a strong team.

“We know we're facing that tomorrow and we're going to make sure that that's what they're facing as well.”

The day after Town’s win at Molineux, which was Wolves’ fourth loss on the bounce, manager Gary O’Neil was sacked with much-travelled Portuguese boss Vitor Pereira taking over four days later.

McKenna feels Wanderers have stuck more to one approach since the change in the hotseat.

“Maybe just being a little bit more consistent with what they’re doing,” he said. “I think in the first part of the season they were changing in between systems and trying to find the right balance and it looks like the new manager has come in with his preferred system and it’s a system as a club they’re well used to and they’ve recruited for.

“So it probably fits a lot of their profiles and they’ve been pretty consistent with what they’ve done over the 14 [Premier League] games he’s been there for.

“He’s had a good impact on the team. A lot of things are really similar, but if you asked me to name anything, I think they’ve maybe been a little bit more settled on their shape and on their system, and they’ve put a good run of form together.”

After the whistle confirmed Town’s win at Molineux, a touchline melee, which made its way into the tunnel, saw Wolves left-back Rayan Al-Nouri shown a second yellow card and then a red for a clash with Wes Burns and a steward, Liam Delap booked and Cunha later banned for two games for elbowing a member of the Blues’ security staff and then forcibly removing his glasses.

But McKenna doesn’t believe there will be too much additional spice to the match due to those incidents.

“I don't feel loads of that in the players group and I think it was a really competitive game,” he said.

“There was needle after the game, but if you ask our security team maybe there's more there! We are going to go out and fight for our club tomorrow, there's no doubt about that and the Wolves players will do the same. 

“Both teams are fighting for their goals so I expect it to be really competitive again, but it's not our main motivation or focus. That's on us and whoever we're playing tomorrow.

“We know there are eight games remaining, and it's an important game, and we're going to give it everything.”

Might the crowd see those involved as pantomime villains? “I think any way that they can help us, we'll take it. The player who got suspended, I'm not sure he'll hear from where he is tomorrow, but we want them to make Portman Road a really difficult place for the opposition and if they can do that tomorrow in any way, we'll always welcome it.”

McKenna says the Portman Road crowd will have a big part to play, having done their bit throughout the season, despite having witnessed only one win.

“There's no doubt we need it,” he said. “We can't have any complaints about that category. We've been really well-backed all season. The supporters have been excellent, and we need to make sure that we're all there 100 per cent tomorrow.

“I think in general in our home games, we've started well much more often than not. The challenge is we haven't had the first goal in too long.

“We haven't had the first goal at home since the Chelsea game, despite having had really good starts in the likes of the Tottenham game, the Southampton game and even the Man City game, where we have the better or at least equal of the chances up until the first goal.

“The support has been a big big part of those fast starts. I think if there's a challenge for us in the remaining games it's probably how we deal with the setbacks in the home games.

“If you say in the last game, probably a really tough, even game against Nottingham Forest that they have against the best teams in the world and as a group we didn't manage to find the response to the first goal going in, and then the game’s got away from us really quickly.

“That's probably happened in a few of the home games, so I think the energy in the home games, the support in the home games and the atmosphere we created have been fantastic all season.

“We haven't turned enough of that into wins in the first half of the season and we want to do that tomorrow, but I know that the supporters will be there pushing us. 

“I think the biggest challenge for us all is that it's very unlikely to be smooth sailing tomorrow. There are going to be ups and downs in the game and we might have a setback. If we get the first goal, great, but the opposition might get it. 

“What we have been fantastic at over the last couple of seasons is dealing with setbacks. In our home games last year we had so many where we went behind and we managed to find the response and we managed to stay in games and come back in games.

“I think tomorrow and in the games coming up, if we're going to be successful, that's an ingredient that we're really going to need to find.

“It's that resilience that's sticking together and responding to a difficult phase in the game that means that we can minimum stay in the game and be tight in games and give ourselves a chance to find maybe a late winner, which we haven't done in the last few home games.

“So, we want to improve and we want to pick up results in the last few home games. Tomorrow is an opportunity to go and do that and it's going to take absolutely everyone again.”

The Team

McKenna was still to make decisions on the fitness and freshness of a number of players, including Leif Davis and Omari Hutchinson, who missed the win at Bournemouth with hamstring and leg injuries respectively, at his Friday lunchtime press conference.

Former West Brom keeper Alex Palmer will continue in goal and it seems likely that the same back four - Axel Tuanzebe, another ex-Baggie Dara O’Shea, Cameron Burgess and a third one-time Hawthorns favourite Conor Townsend - will start ahead of him.

In midfield, Kalvin Phillips could come in alongside Jens Cajuste for skipper Sam Morsy - O’Shea will wear the armband that being the case - having felt no ill effects after briefly playing at the Vitality Stadium, despite having had more than 20 stitches in his foot following the Forest game prior to the international break.

McKenna could be considering changes in the three ahead of the double pivot, especially if Hutchinson is fit, but could continue with Ben Johnson on the right, Nathan Broadhead in the middle and Julio Enciso on the left.

Eleven-goal top scorer Liam Delap again looks set to be the number nine with Wolves the first of two remaining games in which he needs to avoid picking up a 10th booking of the season and then a two-match ban.

The Opposition

Wolves boss Pereira and his assistant Luis Miguel will both be serving one-match touchline bans at Portman Road following yellow cards in the win against West Ham

Pereira, whose side would be all but safe should they restore their 12-point advantage, says he has no new injury problems with the suspended Cunha and long-term absentees Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic, Yerson Mosquera and Leon Chiwome (all knee) the only players unavailable.

Rodrigo Gomes (hip) and Goncalo Guedes (minor knock) are back in the squad after missing the victory over the Hammers but seem likely to be subs rather than starters.

Regarding the match, Pereira said: “Tomorrow is an important game, but if we win tomorrow it’s not finished, this is a mistake. I want my team competing for every point in the league.

“It’s not over until the end. I’ve said it before, it’s a league that can surprise you. Ipswich have the quality to fight for a lot of points. Tomorrow, I feel my team is confident and consistent. For sure, we will compete.”

History

The teams are fairly evenly matched over the years, Town winning 31 times (29 in the league), Wolves 29 (26) and with 25 games (22) ending in draws.

Prior to the victory over the Old Gold at Molineux in December, the Blues had gone seven league games without a win against them, with their previous most recent success a 2-1 home victory under former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy in November 2014.

At Molineux, Jack Taylor netted his first Premier League goal in the fourth minute of injury time to secure the Blues a 2-1 victory.

Matt Doherty’s 15th-minute own goal gave Town a 1-0 half-time lead, before Matheus Cunha levelled on 72 for the home side, but Taylor claimed a famous win for the Blues with a far post header from a corner seconds before the whistle to grab three vital points.

The teams last met at Portman Road in the Carabao Cup in September 2023 when Taylor smashed a brilliant 25-yard winner as then-Championship new boys Town came from two goals behind to beat Wolves 3-2 at Portman Road to reach the fourth round of the competition for the first time in 13 years.

Hwang Hee-Chan put Wolves in front in the fourth minute, then Toti made it 2-0 on the quarter-hour mark, before the Blues fought back, Hutchinson pulling one back in the 28th minute, Freddie Ladapo levelling on 39, prior to Taylor completing a remarkable turnaround with his stunner 13 minutes into the second half.

The teams most recently faced one another in the league at Portman Road in the Championship in January 2018 when Doherty’s 15th-minute goal saw top-of-the-table Wolves, who ultimately claimed the title, to a 1-0 victory over Town.

Doherty nodded home a Barry Douglas cross at the far post with the impressive visitors subsequently looking more likely to add to their lead than the Blues were to level with Town keeper Bartosz Bialkowski making a string of outstanding saves.

Familiar Faces

Blues skipper Morsy was born in Wolverhampton and started his career with his hometown club but left before making a senior appearance in the old gold.

Just prior to the cup meeting between the teams last season, young attacker Tawanda Chirewa joined Wolves having left the Blues after turning down new terms at Town at the end of the previous campaign.

The 21-year-old has made one Premier League start and seven sub appearances - plus another two games from the bench in the FA Cup - for the Molineux club but is currently on loan at Huddersfield.

Officials

Saturday’s referee is Peter Bankes, his assistants Nick Hopton and Nick Greenhalgh, and the fourth official Sam Barrott. The VAR official is Andy Madley and his assistant Sian Massey-Ellis.

Merseyside-based Bankes has shown 102 yellow cards and two red in 25 matches so far this season.

Bankes’s most recent Town match was the 2-1 win at Bolton Wanderers as the Blues battled to avoid relegation from the Championship in April 2019, keeping his cards in his pocket throughout.

Two months earlier, he was in the middle for the 3-0 defeat at Norwich in which he sent Blues boss Paul Lambert and Canaries head of performance Chris Domogalla to the stands following the fracas between the benches just before half-time. He also yellow-carded Cole Skuse, Jon Nolan and Flynn Downes as well as four Canaries.

Bankes was also the referee for the 1-1 draw at Bolton in January 2018 in which he booked Dominic Iorfa and home striker Gary Madine.

Before that he was in charge of the 2-0 home win against Reading the previous month in which he cautioned Jonas Knudsen, Martyn Waghorn and Adam Webster as well as four Royals.

He also refereed the 2-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest in November 2016 in which he booked David McGoldrick and two visiting players.

Prior to that he was in charge of the 0-0 draw at Wolves three months earlier in which one of his linesmen disallowed what replays showed was a perfectly good Daryl Murphy goal.

He also awarded the home side a penalty after Webster had fouled Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, but Bialkowski saved the Icelander’s spotkick, and yellow-carded seven players, five of them from Town: Knudsen, Luke Chambers, Teddy Bishop, Christophe Berra and sub Kevin Bru.

Bankes had officiated in two Town games before that one, January 2016’s 0-0 draw at Burnley, in which he cautioned two Clarets, and the 2-2 home draw with Bristol City in September 2015, in which he booked three of the visitors.

Squad From

Palmer, Walton, Slicker, Davis, Townsend, Johnson, Tuanzebe, Godfrey, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy, Cajuste, Phillips, Luongo, Taylor, Philogene, Clarke, Hutchinson, Enciso, Chaplin, Broadhead, Delap, Hirst.

TWTD

flykickingbybgunn added 18:49 - Apr 4 It's S or B tomorrow. Shout loudly and often for them and us.
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armchaircritic59 added 19:29 - Apr 4 It's a fact if we had picked up just the same number of points at home as we have away, we'd start tomorrows game just 3 points behind Wolves and not 9. Now that would have been a blockbuster! I think it shows where our major downfall has been this season, which is probably the opposite to what the great majority of us would have expected pre season.
0

RobsonWark added 19:31 - Apr 4 Yes, it's very important. So don't change the team again. I don't want to see Leif Davis on the pitch on Saturday. You have to stick with Townsend.
7

blueboy1981 added 19:43 - Apr 4 Simple - If we consider ourselves worthy of being / staying in the Prem’ at the expense of Wolves - this has to be proved with nothing less THAN A WIN. Anything less, and we deserve Relegation. No if’s, but’s, and maybe’s - we’ve exhausted all those - and Wolves are no great shakes anyway.
2

Leejames99 added 22:22 - Apr 4 Managed to get his fine margins and 2 no doubt about its in there. This is an absolute must win game, lose or draw and its all but done, we need the pendulum of momentum back to us. If Davis is in and Morsy starts there is something very wrong going on, surely he wouldn't tinker too much aside Morsy and maybe Johnson would he...
-1

ArnieM added 00:28 - Apr 5 If he changes a winning team that de.onstrated the strongest defensive unit all season, then he needs to look long and hard at HIS " learning" this season. He makes far too many changes every game. I hope he starts with the same 11 he did on weds night.
1

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:34 - Apr 5 We don't know the finer details of how the players came out of the match against B'mouth. I think there may be some changes, but I too hope not too many.
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bluebullet29l added 10:12 - Apr 5 Can we have 9 changes please...
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blueboy1981 added 10:16 - Apr 5 If Bournemouth wasn’t a fluke - this one could, and should, be a 2-0 Home Win. No reason to see it otherwise, if we mean business at last !
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carlo88 added 10:35 - Apr 5 That Jack Taylor goal last season is one of the best goals I've ever seen us score, it was beautiful.
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blueboy1981 added 12:10 - Apr 5 …… any Bets on how many Team changes he’ll make ? - it’ll be a miracle if he doesn’t, it’s compulsion for him who goes into Dream mode on a Saturday as Barcelona or Real Madrid Manager - until 5.00 pm when reality normally returns !
1

Leejames99 added 12:47 - Apr 5 Strange he sent Hirst out for conference, I'm positive there will be changes If he fit I would not be surprised to see Davis back in because Mckenna thinks he is a better wing back and that's how Wolves play in a 3-4-2-1 So he will most likely go Palmer Tunazabe O'Shea Greaves Davis Phillogene/Johnson Morsy Cajuste Enciso Hutchinson Delap Wouldn't surprise me at all which will be awful after the other night, it's quite bad we have no clue of a probable line up each game. I'm hoping it's Palmer Tunazabe O'Shea Burgess Townsend Phillips Cajuste Johnson or Hutchinson Broadhead Encico Delap Not long until we know, big big game today, whoever he picks needs to get us the points, I'd probaly prefer Johnson on bench to come on with Woolfenden or Greaves and shut shop if we go up a goal or two.

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