Bully Bites Back with Steve Bull

Wolves legend Steve Bull gives it to you straight in his weekly column and believes the time is right for the players to take some credit for their efforts.

Another goalleess draw in a tough game at Fulham may not have been the most glamorous way to edge towards Premier League safety – but there's nothing boring about staying up this season!

Every point counts whether it comes with a good watch or not and, while I criticised Stoke for being a dull team last week, at least we're grinding out results without resorting to long balls and long throws. Boss Mick McCarthy simply set the team up right and we got the point we deserved.

I'd love it to be exciting every week, but safety comes first and I'm hoping to be toasting a successful end to the season with a glass of wine and a Chinese takeaway on Saturday.

Wolves will have more of a responsibility to entertain next season, because this year the main goal was to stay up. That was the target to be achieved, whether it was by hook or by crook, and we can't say there's been no excitement this year because I've been delighted with the way the team have played.

Even if we have to grind out three draws between now and the end of the season the manager will be happy, but it would be good to get everything sewn up quickly because the gap is gradually closing.

The one result that didn't go for us last weekend was at Wigan, because I was sure they'd be down there after their game against Arsenal, but we can only focus on our own results and, as I said before the game, I felt a draw was a great result at Fulham.

We do need to find a goal against Blackburn on Saturday though and obviously they've been few and far between at Molineux in recent home games. It's one to look at in the summer but I see Mick sticking with 4-5-1 on Saturday, because we have created chances in most games.

There's no doubt the team will be sent out to win though, because three points would all but seal another season in the top flight. If we can start the party two games early, that's when we might see the manager giving one or two others a run out.

Mick could let Sylvain Ebanks-Blake and Chris Iwelumo off the leash so they can show what they can do before the season ends, and that could mean a return to 4-4-2.

Both those players will be aware that once the summer comes around, the Wolves boss will on the lookout for another striker because we will need more goals next season. It's up to them to prove they can be the one to find the net more regularly and make more exciting games for the fans.

Kevin Doyle has worked his socks off this year and if he gets a chance he'll stick it away, but I think he'd get more goals with a strike partner. He's not a moaner though, he just gets his head down and does his job so I expect him to keep working hard for the side, not for himself.

At the other end of the field, Wolves are going from strength-to-strength and for me it all comes down to a moment of realisation around four or five months ago, when it seems the players realised they were good enough to play at this level.

If they had started the season like this we would have been flying high, because we have been really tough to break down recently. The likes of Christophe Berra – and the whole back four to be honest – have been unsung heroes because at the start of the season there were real doubts over them.

Since the turn of the year they've been working much better as a unit and, while Jody Craddock has been getting all the plaudits, Berra, Ronald Zubar and the others have been excellent too.

Michael Mancienne is another one who, while he has been a bit part player at times, has blended in nicely when he's played. That's exactly what you need from your squad and it's certainly played a big part in our successes.

Mancienne might struggle to get first team football at Chelsea because they can just go out and buy a multi-million pound signing in his position, but homegrown players get their chance at Wolves.

At 22 he could be a real talent for the future, so I would love to see him signed up permanently this summer.

Berra had a few slip-ups in the Championship and at the start of the season that looked like continuing, but he's taken the bull by the horns and rightfully earned his place.

They have all played a part in our recent record of three clean sheets from four games and it's one to be proud of, given it has been matched only by Manchester United and ironically enough, Blackburn.

It means we can probably expect a battle of the defences come Saturday and it might need a moment of magic to win it, but Blackburn have been up and down all season. They have pulled out some great results against Chelsea and Manchester United, but they're erratic away from home and they haven't come across this Wolves team yet.

I know we will be a totally different proposition to the team Blackburn beat 3-1 at Ewood Park, because we've established ourselves as a Premier League side now.

It's been 50 years this season since we beat them in the FA Cup Final, the last time we won the old trophy, and that could be a lucky omen ahead of this weekend's fixture – even if it's only the grandfathers among us that remember that game!

Besides, Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce was born down the road in Dudley and I think he's a closet Wolves fan – so maybe he'll let us have three points so he can see us again next year.

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