D-day - Black Country style

Here it is then, the big day has arrived.

Yes, Happy Birthday Emma Thompson. 49 today. Thought you were great in Love Actually.......

What? Oh sorry. Yes, the Black Country derby. Of course. Wolves and Albion locking horns for the seventh time in 18 months. Probably a game which both sets of players and fans could do without - unless they win of course! So how will it go? What is going to happen? You've got more chance of discovering the Zimbabwe election result than the answers to those questions in advance of tonight's big kick off.

But from a Wolves point of view, what are their best chances of winning the game? And perversely, what do they have most to worry about?

FIVE REASONS WHY WOLVES CAN WIN THE BLACK COUNTRY DERBY
1. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. At the Hawthorns last November Wolves did a job on Albion, strung five across midfield and finished up - albeit thanks to Wayne Hennessey's late penalty heroics, with a goalless draw. Now though they've got Ebanks-Blake. The powerful striker has brought an added dimension to Mick McCarthy's team since his January arrival, namely an explosive goal threat. If Wolves do win tonight, odds-on that Ebanks-Blake will have played a major role.

2. The fans. This will be the first Molineux Black Country derby under floodlights since March 1990 when a Cook and Bull story (goals from Paul Cook and Steve Bull) earned Wolves a 2-1 win. That promises a special atmosphere and presumably tonight will be a night when any minor grumbles are forgotten and the Wolves' fans try to raise the roof in a bid for a priceless win against the Old Enemy.

3. Law of averages. Wolves have won only two of the last 16 derbies. That can't go on? Can it?!

4. Set pieces. Albion's defending of them. Not the best by all accounts. Jody Craddock and Neill Collins might fancy a bit of that. Expect to see plenty of Kevin Kyle as well, if not from the start then certainly from the bench.

5. Recent form. Eighteen points from the last nine games sends Wolves into tonight's proceedings in good heart. Confidence should be in good supply - can they carry that onto the pitch?

FIVE REASONS WHY WOLVES MIGHT NOT WIN THE BLACK COUNTRY DERBY

1. Kevin Phillips. The guy is a derby specialist. For all the teams he has played for, he has scored against the derby rivals. Wolves bore the brunt last season - Phillips notched four in four. Scary stuff. Even if he's on the bench tonight, when he starts warming up, the nerves will start jangling.

2. And it's not just Phillips. Albion score goals for fun. Ishmael Miller, Roman Bednar, Robert Koren, Zoltan Gera - they all enjoy rattling the net. 103 goals in total thus far - Wayne Hennessey will have to pull out all the stops if he is to enjoy his 18th league clean sheet of the season.

3. Psychology. Mick McCarthy laughed off suggestions Wolves players might suffer as a result of recent results against Albion. But in contrast Albion's players might just feel they've got the beating of this current Wolves squad. We shall see.

4. The fans. Yes Wolves fans can make Molineux into a fortress on midweek nights and generate a truly magnificent atmosphere. But should Albion score first, it will provide a big test for those fans to keep the faith. Their reaction to last season's derby despair was awesome, applauding their team from the pitch after all the defeats. This season they haven't been as united.

5. The carrot. Albion can go top of the table with three points with a win. And it would put them seemingly within touching distance of automatic promotion. That's some motivation.

CONCLUSION
What do I think? Too close to call. It's all the old cliches for a game like this. Who performs on the day, who makes the least mistakes, who produces a piece of magic. More than ever, the first goal could be crucial. And the result? Well I'm going to go and shove Trevor Brooking off his perennial position on the fence and go for a 1-1 draw. Not ideal for both but at the same time it would leave their objectives - automatic promotion and reaching the play-offs - still in their own hands.