Wolves have history on their side - but Cesar Peixoto knows what matters

History is firmly on Wolves’ side, but they will know better than to read too much into past successes.

Wolves have lost just twice to Bristol City since 1993 and have enjoyed some memorable trips to Ashton Gate in recent years, including a 2-1 cup victory last season and another away win in 2019.

Perhaps the most significant came in December 2017, when Ryan Bennett struck a stoppage-time winner to send Wolves 10 points clear at the top of the Championship.

They return to Bristol tonight hoping to replicate the fortunes of that promotion-winning campaign, albeit with a different objective. Rather than stretching their advantage at the summit, Cesar Peixoto’s side are looking to maintain their momentum and close the gap on those above them.

Victory would make it three successive wins and five games unbeaten - another encouraging marker of their progress.

But Wolves could have a selection headache, with Jordan James forced off early during last weekend’s win over Cardiff City. His availability for tonight remains uncertain.

Fer Lopez, Wolves’ standout performer so far this season, was among those withdrawn in the second half against Cardiff. Rafiki Said, Adam Armstrong and Andre were also given an early rest as Peixoto looked to keep his key players fresh for tonight’s trip.

“It’s important, if you have the players more fresh, more fit, we stay better to play the game and try to win,” Peixoto said afterwards.

“I think it’s an important thing but not the key, the key is to find the right plan for the game, find the right balance in the team to go to the game.

“They also won, so for sure they’re going to have confidence at their home to fight against us.

“All the teams have a lot of motivation to play against Wolves and we have to stay at the same level in this kind of motivation and play our game.”

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde replaced James against Cardiff, with Peixoto revealing the midfielder had been unwell in the build-up. Rodrigo Gomes and Mateus Mane also offered options from the bench, while Fer Lopez was deployed on the right - a role the head coach explained.

“Bellegarde was ill during the week and he missed two training sessions as he wasn’t 100 per cent ready to play, Rodrigo is also coming back from injury, and Mane doesn’t play in exactly the same way on the right as he does on the left,” Peixoto added.

“But I liked what I saw in the last game when we had Jordan James, Marshall and Andre in midfield, and I think that made us stronger, so today, we started with Fer in a wider position, but when he comes inside, he has more freedom and I think that was important for us today.

“Fer has played in that position many times, and although I prefer to have him more inside, sometimes you have to look at what’s best for the team rather than the individual player and today, we needed him in the wide areas. He scored and did a great job.

“But the whole team played well, with more confidence on the ball. We created a lot of chances, changed the rhythm well and played with confidence.”