The international break over, Wolves head to Middlesbrough for a match which neither side can afford to lose.
History is against the men in old gold; they haven’t won on Teesside in 67 years, but Nuno Espirito Santo doesn’t care for records. They weren’t his Wolves teams which lost at Ayresome Park or the Riverside; this one is his and the Portuguese is confident they won’t lose.
And in any case, he has been smashing records this season. They won at Norwich City for the first time in a decade, while also winning a league match for the first time in November since 2008 which is one of the more bizarre facts in an illustrious club history.
Espirito Santo isn’t expecting an easy ride from his fellow promotion hopefuls.
“It’ll be a tough game,” he told the assembled media at his pre-match press conference. “They’re a good team but like I always say – I keep repeating myself – we go to fight, compete, to try our best. For us, the best is to win.”
This is the business end of the season and Wolves destiny is in their own hands. Four wins from their remaining eight games will see them occupy one of the automatic promotion places; they aren’t looking down the table, just looking forward.
“We know we still have a lot of football to play, in front of us. It’s determination to continually do a good performance, to achieve our objectives.”
The international break saw Wolves lose half-a-dozen players to their respective countries and Espirito Santo believes “it’s good for the club and good for the players themselves.”
“It’s one of the highest points of football careers when they play with their national teams. It’s good for us.”
“They’re deserved, because of the hard work they’ve been doing here, in Wolves.”
While fatigue may be an issue, the motivational side of being called up for international duty obviously far outweighs the negatives in his eyes.
If they emerge from the Middlesbrough match with three points, that will reinforce his view of the positives a fortnight away from the club can bring.
If is such a big word.