Skipper's Home Comforts

Batth at the double for Wolves

Two-goal hero Danny Batth was full of praise for Wolves' front four after they helped record the team's fourth consecutive league win against Cardiff at Molineux on Saturday.

Batth registered with two first-half headers - sandwiching Kenneth Zohore's equaliser - before Helder Costa netted in the second half to secure a 3-1 win.

Despite taking the headlines with his first ever brace as a professional, Batth was keen to acknowledge the attacking contributions of Costa, Ivan Cavaleiro, Ben Marshall and Andi Weimann after the game.

"The front four were brilliant," the Wolves skipper said. "I knew Ben Marshall from my time at Sheffield Wednesday so I knew the quality he'd add to the team, and his deliveries have got to be among the best in the league. His crosses for my two goals were brilliant - he's got the quality to open up defences from open play as well.

"He's been a good addition, Andi has been a revelation for us with his movement and the way he brings players into play, and now Cavaleiro's back to full fitness as well, so that's all taken the heat off Costa, which allows him to get more opportunities.

"His goal was ridiculous - I think it's one of the best things I've ever seen! It was almost as if the ball was stuck to his foot. He's just frightening when he gets one against one in the box - we see it in training as well.

"He's been excellent and he's still progressing. He's had to adjust his game in terms of learning what's required defensively, but he's a brilliant player and I can't speak highly enough of him. Those are the kind of players who raise the bar and that is the kind of competition we need."

Batth left Molineux having received the sponsors' man-of-the-match award after his double - his first goals since the win against Birmingham at St Andrews back in August. He admitted after the game that the wait for a goal had been playing on his mind.

He said: "I had been thinking about it, to be honest, and to do it in a game when it really matters is a great feeling. You could see how overjoyed I was after both goals. I thought the chance had gone for the first one, because I thought Andi would go for goal, but he's shown great vision and set me up perfectly.

"Again, the quality of the cross from Ben for the second one was brilliant, and it was great to get on the end of it. I was on a hat-trick, and I think if I'd got a third I would have ended up in the South Bank! It's great to get two though, and hopefully I can chip in with a few more between now and the end of the season."

 The win represented Wolves' second victory in a row at home, and Batth was delighted that he and his side were able to produce some of the flair that has characterised many of this season's away performances to Molineux.

 "The test for us against Cardiff was to bring our away form to Molineux," he continued.

"We've been below par here and our results have reflected that. There's not a single player in that dressing room that hasn't questioned why we've been better away than at home, but I think against Cardiff we showed positivity and were on the front foot, and the fans were behind us because of that.

 "I thought we adopted the right balance of being direct at times and playing good football at others - we dealt with Cardiff's threats from set-pieces reasonably well and I think we deserved the three points.

 "There was lots of talk over the international break about not taking our foot off the gas - we want to finish as high as possible and getting wins here at Molineux is a big part of that. We've now got to build on this win and go again against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday."