James Collins’ side have lost just once since the turn of the year and have earned victories in their last five league fixtures, continuing their run in last week’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Aggborough following a 4-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion.
Taylor Perry opened the scoring in just the second minute against Villa with a perfectly struck free-kick, before Chem Campbell curled an effort into the top corner. Harry Birtwistle added a third after the break when he intercepted the ball and finished neatly to secure another triumph.
The development side have also overcome the challenges posed by Reading, Birmingham City and Sunderland in recent weeks, as they moved into the Division 2 play-off places with just six league matches left to play.
Friday afternoon’s opponents, Southampton, sit just a point and one place behind Collins’ men in the Division 2 table, although Wolves do have two games in hand over the south coast side, with both teams battling it out for one of the four play-off spots come the end of the season.
The Saints have gone on a positive run of their own since the start of 2022, falling to defeat in only one of their seven fixtures, while winning five, including an impressive victory over runaway league leaders Fulham.
Supporters can watch all the action from Southampton live this afternoon, as the match is streamed online via wolves.co.uk, the Wolves App and the Wolves YouTube channel.
The live Wolves TV match stream, beginning at 11.55am, can be found here, or click here to watch on YouTube, while supporters can also catch download the Wolves App now on iOS here and on Android here.
WHEN
Friday, 12pm
WHERE
Staplewood Training Ground, Southampton
LAST THREE
Wolves
3-0 vs Aston Villa (H)
4-0 vs West Bromwich Albion (A)
1-0 vs Wigan Athletic (A) PLC
Southampton
2-1 vs Reading (H)
2-2 vs Aston Villa (A)
4-2 vs Nottingham Forest (H)
WHAT THE BOSS THINKS
Head coach James Collins knows his players are going to have to be at their best on Friday lunchtime if they are to extend their winning run in the league, as they face a Southampton side who took home all three points when the teams met earlier in the season.
“Southampton are what you expect Southampton to be,” Collins said. “They’re very similar to their first-team – they press very well, they press very aggressively and are a high-intensity football team.
“They’ve done very well this season and I think there’s only a point or so between us in the league, so it should be a really good game.
“It should be a good footballing game, but we’ll have to play as well as we have done in the last month or so if we are to get anything out of it.”
NEXT FIVE
25/03 Southampton (A)
01/04 Nottingham Forest (A)
10/04 Peterborough United (A) PLC
15/04 Middlesbrough (A)
18/04 Newcastle United (H)
