Moxey: We must top noise league

That honour is currently held by Stoke City, the second-placed promoted Championship team last year who have made a mockery of the critics who have written them off.

And the secret to their all-but-confirmed safety has been a record at the Britannia Stadium even high-flying Villa would relish.

While Martin O'Neill's side have limped to five wins at Villa Park, Stoke have won nine at home – the fourth best record in the division, one they share with mighty Chelsea and Arsenal.

In all, Tony Pulis' team have collected 32 of their 39 points on home soil where they have been urged on by sell-out crowds officially regarded as the noisiest in the top flight.

That data has been supplied by Sky TV's engineers who recorded the Stoke fans hitting 101.8 decibels, ahead of Spurs (97.58), Liverpool (95.4) and Portsmouth (94.3).

And Molineux chief executive Jez Moxey is urging Wolves fans to spend the summer resting their larynxes for an almighty roar to unsettle opponents next season.

"We know that we, as a club and as a group of players, have got to step up to the plate next season," says Moxey, the man who pioneered the move to the Britannia Stadium during his days in the CEO's chair at the Potteries club.

"But perhaps our fans do as well. When I was leading the move to the Britannia Stadium, there were an awful lot of grumbles about the fact that it would never generate the atmosphere they used to get at the Victoria Ground but Stoke's home record this season is quite amazing and there's no doubt their fans have played a big part in that.

"It is a tough, hostile place to go to as the Premier League teams have discovered. They are officially rated as the noisiest fans in the division.

"So let's put that challenge out to our fans to prove they can be even noisier – because there have been times when they have had Molineux shaking at the foundations. That's the noise we need next season.

"I hope that we can get back that atmosphere we all enjoyed over the second half of our previous Premier League campaign.

"It seemed to me that our fans relaxed a bit, realised we were the underdogs stopped worrying so much and just really got behind the team. It was spine-tingling at times and it helped drag Dave Jones' team on and on.

"So that's the challenge. We will be doing all we can to make sure we give Mick McCarthy and the players every chance of surviving this first season back. The challenge for the fans is to be the noisiest in the Premier League next season. We are going to need every extra percentage we can get to wage this battle successfully.

"I have a vision of where I want this club to be five years from now. It's easy to talk about it but making it happen is going to be the most demanding job of all.

"The fans are going to need to accept a bigger role and even greater responsibility just as we are. More than ever we're in this together."