The morning after the night before the night before that....

Reflections on the derby.....

1. Albion are still - and comfortably so - the best footballing team in the division. Surely they're home and hosed now? And local rivalries aside, it would probably do Wolves good to see them disappear over the horizon. Just two wins in the last 17 derbies tells its own sorry tale. If Wolves reach the play-offs they won't want to be seeing Albion. If they don't, and have to start all over again next season, likewise it won't do any harm not to have the old enemy hovering on the scene.

2. The final third. Wolves certainly matched Albion for spirit and endeavour. But at the business end of the pitch the Baggies were streets ahead. Dean Kiely only had to make two really serious saves. At the other end Wayne Hennessey was constantly kept on his toes, Albion twice hit the woodwork and once hit Kevin Phillips when Ishmael Miller's shot appeared goal-bound. And that was apart from the goal, when Zoltan Gera was somehow left unmarked just six yards out.

3. Work in progress. It's sometimes easy to forget just how young this Wolves team is. Average age 24, compared to Albion's 28. Eight of Albion's team are aged 27 or over as opposed to just three of Wolves. Tony Mowbray had so much more to work with when he arrived at the Hawthorns compared to what greeted Mick McCarthy at Molineux three months previously. Yes Mowbray has done a terrific job from such a base, but he did enjoy a head start. Former Albion and Wolves stalwart Ally Robertson suggested in Tuesday night's programme that it's usually the third season of a rebuilding job where things really come to fruition. For Wolves under McCarthy, that's next season.

4. Karl Henry. There are those who have criticised the Wolves midfielder this season. And at times he has dipped below his usual standards. But Tuesday night showed just how much the Molineux men miss an in-form Henry when he's not around. There was no one in the engine room able to get a foot in and break up some of Albion's flowing football. It sounds as if Henry could be absent for at least another fortnight with his medial knee ligament injury which may rule him out until the final day of the season. Surely he's not destined to finish another campaign prematurely after scoring the winner in a 3-2 success?

And yet, after all this.....

5. IT'S STILL THERE! Wolves are still in the hunt, even though it's now out of their hands. Three points behind Crystal Palace but with an inferior goal difference, other results need to go Wolves' way. But Palace are away at Watford at the weekend. For Wolves, it's fellow chasers Ipswich. Molineux will once again be a nervy and expectant place come 3.00 on Saturday afternoon. If McCarthy's men can withstand the battle of wills and somehow emerge with three points, the pain of yet another derby defeat will quickly become a distant memory.