Wolves 4 Blackburn 2

If pre-season form is anything to go by, Wolves are right to ban the 'P' word in an attempt to rein in expectations.

Mick McCarthy's side signed off their preparations before next Saturday's opener at Plymouth with this thoroughly deserved win over Premier League opposition.

Victory extended Wolves' unbeaten sequence to six friendlies, while they have scored 13 goals and conceded just five, with three clean sheets, all topped off with four goals against Premier League opposition and England's deposed goalkeeper.

More importantly, they have emerged with the Championship curtain-raiser in sight with no injuries, which represents a major relief for McCarthy and a tribute to the painstaking work of fitness coach Tony Daley.

From seeing the work on the training pitches of Scotland at close hand, it is clear just what lengths Daley goes to to ensure the players are fully prepared.

The sad irony for Wolves fans is that they – and he – were robbed of arguably the best years of his playing career by a cruel succession of injuries.

Quite possibly, his history has helped sharpen his awareness to the pitfalls involved.

Wingers Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis are fit, well and straining at the leash for action, which means McCarthy has two crucial players he was robbed of for five months last term.

Wolves fans have seen it all before of course, with more false dawns than they care to remember down the years.

Promising pre-seasons count for nothing at this stage. Championship points is all that matters once the season starts.

Predictions can only be based on what we've seen, and, on the evidence so far, Wolves look in extremely good shape.

Blackburn followed Hereford, Dundee, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Walsall as looking physically inferior to Wolves, who again played at a higher tempo than the opposition.

In the 13 goals scored in the friendlies – two more were disallowed here like against Motherwell – they have gone some way to answering their critics' concerns about firepower.

At a sun-drenched Molineux on Saturday, there were four different scorers, while penalty scorer Chris Iwelumo and Sam Vokes had efforts ruled out.

McCarthy's main concern was his defence, where Richard Stearman and Jody Craddock endured a less than amicable alliance, during a rocky first-half's defending.

There seems little doubt that Stearman will be a class act. At 20 he is already commanding, mobile, good in the air and a fine tackler, while he brings a crucial element many thought has been missing from the heart of Wolves' defence for too long – pace.

It was difficult to apportion sole blame on the former Leicester stopper for Blackburn's ability to slice through the Wolves back-line during the opening half-hour or so.

He and Craddock seemed on different wavelengths before improving hugely after the break. Perhaps significantly, they were allowed to play the whole game together, the first time McCarthy has left his central defence intact for 90 minutes this summer.

They showed they still need time to gel, as Matt Derbyshire was allowed two good chances in the first four minutes.

First he walzed through only to hit Wayne Hennessey's legs with a left foot drive, following Tugay's ball over the top. Derbyshire then sent a rising drive over from Roque Santa Cruz's knockdown.

Thankfully Wolves, with Kightly in impressive form against one of the clubs who cast admiring glances towards him earlier this summer, looked rampant going forward.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who went off after 36 minutes with blurred vision after being poked in the eye, drew a fingertip save from £3.5m new signing Paul Robinson after Kightly's through ball.

It was an unusual combination that connected first, as Wolves' capped a lively start to the game by grabbing the opener in the ninth minute.

Robinson was rooted to the spot as George Elokobi powered home a far-post header from David Jones's corner for his first goal for the club.

In an open game, Santa Cruz sliced over and Ebanks-Blake saw an effort saved at the foot of the post, before the unmarked Derbyshire levelled in the 16th minute, when he bundled a shot past Hennessey after Morten Gamst-Pedersen's header left him in the clear.

Alan Judge was inches wide with a half volley, before Wolves took the lead for the second time with the goal of the game in the 23rd minute.

Kightly was again the architect, playing a a one-two with Ebanks-Blake before sweeping play wide to Stephen Ward.

Andy Keogh grabbed his second successive strike, when he slotted home left-footed from close range, after his initial effort was saved by Robinson.

Wolves' lead lasted a minute, as Santa Cruz rolled the ball home from Judge's diagonal ball after more head-scratching in the home defence. It came at a price, with Rovers' top scorer from last season having to be carried off with a minor Achilles problem as he struck the ball.

If the first-half was even, the second period belonged to Wolves as they stepped up a gear.

Kightly again set the tone when his early shot was blocked on the line, before Craddock's sidefooted effort had Robinson at full stretch.

Wolves deservedly regained the lead for a third time, when the lively Elokobi was tripped by David Dunn for a 58th minute penalty, calmly converted by Iwelumo.

There were chants of 'Super Mick McCarthy' and Mexican waves from the South Bank, in between Iwelumo's disallowed effort, before Jarvis made it 4-2 with a superb solo effort, beating two men to take himself clean through before slotting home on 75.

Wolves (4-4-2): Hennessey; Foley, Stearman, Craddock, Elokob (Harte 89)i; Kightly (Gray 76), Henry, David Jones (D Edwards 76), S Ward (Jarvis 70); Ebanks-Blake (Iwelumo 36), Keogh (Vokes 65).

Subs not used: Ikeme, Davies, Little, D Ward.

Blackburn (4-4-2): Robinson; Reid, Samba, Mokoena (Khizanishvili 81), Warnock (McCarthy 75); Judge (Treacy 63), Tugay (Vogel 69), Dunn, Gamst-Pedersen; Santa-Cruz (Roberts 28), Derbyshire (Fowler 75).

Sub not used: Fielding.

Referee: A Penn (Kingswinford).

Attendance: 10,238.