Wolves have already managed to lay a couple of historical ghosts to inflict a double dose of capital punishment this season.

 

Victory at Tottenham in December was their first at White Hart Lane since November, 1973, while success at West Ham last week the first at Upton Park since 1978.

 

Completing a hat trick at Arsenal on Saturday would prove something else entirely!

 

Wolves have lost their last nine meetings with the Gunners, and haven't won in 15 meetings stretching back to September, 1979.

 

And yet 1979 was a good year for Wolves at Arsenal - they also won there in February as well!

 

Kenny Hibbitt was part of that impressive team back in the day when Highbury was more of a happy stomping ground than in the three decades since.

 

Hibbitt added to Andy Gray's brace in that 3-2 win in the September, and also played in the 1-0 victory in the February when John Richards found the net.

 

 

"I can just about remember the goal I scored in that game," recalls Hibbitt.

 

"I ran onto a ball on the edge of the box and put it in the left hand corner if I remember correctly!

 

"We'd also won the other game 1-0 and I also remember at the start of the 1973/74 season in one of the few FA Cup third place play offs that were played.

"We'd both lost in the semi finals the previous season and had the play-off at Highbury, and again we won, with the Doog scoring from 30 yards with his right foot - a real collector's item!

 

"There was another game we lost there in the cup when Bob Hazell was controversially sent off in the last minute and Malcolm Macdonald popped up the winner.

 

"I suppose it was very different for a Wolves team going to Arsenal in those days.

 

"We were recognised as a top Division One side and it was always great to go and play at Highbury.

 

"It was the same at Elland Road, Stamford Bridge, Anfield - great venues - as was Derby's Baseball Ground at the time.

 

"Arsenal and Highbury was always a place where it was tough to get something, as it was at Liverpool and Leeds.

 

"If you picked up a win there it was certainly well-earned which is what it was for us in the games mentioned.

 

"Arsenal were full of star names particularly earlier on in the Seventies with Charlie George, George Armstrong, the 'Stroller' George Graham, and it was always difficult to get a result."
 

Hibbitt, who now works as a Premier League match delegate working with referees, admits times have certainly changed in terms of the gap between Wolves and Arsenal since that last Gold and Black victory.

 

And not just in terms of Arsenal's ground.

 

But he also believes that there's no reason for Wolves to fear the task in store on Saturday, providing they compete as much as possible and don't let Arsenal dictate.

"It's all changed now of course with Arsenal having moved from Highbury," said Hibbitt.

 

"And the Wolves players will not believe the quality of the pitch at the Emirates Stadium.

 

 

"It really is like a bowling green, the best surface you could wish to see and better than the old Wembley in my opinion.

 

"I remember going there for the first time when I was working for their game with Reading and there really is a special ambiance about the place.

 

"And I'm sure playing there must be a special experience and it should be a challenge that the Wolves lads will relish.

 

"If they don't, then I'll be happy to give it a go!

 

"Walking out of the tunnel they have to go out there and be ready to win their tackles and compete with Arsenal right from the start.

 

"They can't just stand back and let Arsenal play, like Sunderland did against Liverpool last weekend, although I know Mick wouldn't let that happen anyway.

"The Wolves fans will love it at the Emirates and it's up to the players to go out there and show the Arsenal fans that they are a good team.

 

"Can they get a result? Why not.  As long as they are at their best and really relish the challenge in front of them."

 

Whatever transpires on Saturday, Wolves midfield legend Hibbitt, who struck 114 goals from 574 appearances during a 16-year Molineux career, believes the current crop are well on course for achieving what he was always confident they would - top flight survival.

 

"I said all along I felt Wolves can survive," he says.

 

"The bonus is that there have been some struggling teams in the Premier League this season.

 

"But it would also be because of how Wolves themselves have done as they've really found their feet in the division.

"I've seen them draw with Liverpool at home, beat Spurs and lose to Chelsea when they certainly deserved something.

 

"They are well-organised and hard-working and I think that is always the way to be when you first go into the Premier League.

 

"It's what Stoke did, and further back what Bolton did under Sam Allardyce.

 

"You can't play football all the time, and sometimes it's not pretty, but you just have to survive that first season and build from there.

 

"Kevin Doyle has been outstanding, the skipper Karl Henry has been superb, and the defence are now looking strong.

 

"It was a great win at West Ham last week, and while people have been saying that was because West Ham played badly it was also because of how Wolves played so well.

 

"Mick would be my Manager of the Year because of what he has done at Wolves and I am sure they will go on to survive from here."