Wolves 0 Ipswich 2 - match report

Wolves failed again in front of their own long-suffering fans as Mick McCarthy made a winning return to Molineux and heaped the pressure on his successor Stale Solbakken.

Goals by Aaron Cresswell (33) and DJ Campbell (64) sentenced Wolves to their eighth winless game in their last nine at home, and had supporters chanting 'what a load of rubbish' after the final whistle.

Another setback made it back to back home defeats over a miserable festive period and three defeats in four after the collapse against Peterborough.

By contrast, McCarthy has steered Ipswich to their seventh win in his 11 matches in charge to within a point of his old club, who were third and Ipswich bottom when he took over at Portman Road.

Home fans also chanted 'you don't know what you're doing' to Solbakken after his decision to take off Kevin Doyle for Jermaine Pennant as part of a triple substitution in the 67^th minute.

Wolves weren't as bad as they had been against Peterborough, but failed to create a single chance or an attempt on target, although they appeared to have had justifyable claims for a penalty in the second minute for a push by Luke Chambers on Doyle.

Solbakken made two changes to the side embarrassed 3-0 by Peterborough on Boxing Day.

Bjorn Sigurdarson and David Davis returned in place of Pennant and Tongo Doumbia, who both dropped to the bench.

McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor were warmly applauded as they made their way to the dugout before kick off before a packed Molineux.

Wolves settled the better in front of the large but subdued crowd and it looked as if they should have had a penalty in the second minute.

Doyle and Luke Chambers gave chase to Christophe Berra's chip forward and the Wolves striker appeared to be pushed to the ground as they wrestled for possession.

But referee Darren Drysdale, who looked to be in a good position, was having none of it as he waved play on.

Doyle carried his protests on long and hard after the incident, as did several of his team-mates during the next break in play.

But action quickly switched to the other end, where Wolves were guilty of failing to clear their lines before DJ Campbell – who was sent off for Blackpool on a previous visit to Molineux in February 2011 – curled wide from 12 yards out.

More indecisive play inside their own box saw Ipswich winger Lee Martin unleash a vicious shot in the 10^th minute.

But luckily for Wolves, Carl Ikeme was perfectly positioned to palm the ball down and hold at the second attempt.

Wolves began to look more assured in their play and started to get on top, without creating any clear-cut openings.

Bakary Sako, who had had two quiet games, rolled a shot wide in the 24^th minute from 20 yards after some fine work from Davis, who supplied the pass then a decoy run.

A half chance fell to Sako again four minutes later after an awful clearance landed at his feet, but he could only slash the ball high and wide.

The breakthrough came when Cresswell burst through with an unchallenged run into the penalty area and he curled home a shot from 15 yards, with Davis unable to close him down quickly enough.

But Wolves only have themselves to blame after failing to clear the ball properly four times in the build-up.

The goal changed the game, with Wolves unable to create anything before the break.

If Wolves fans thought the half-time break would improve things, they were sadly mistaken as they again capitulated in the second period.

Ipswich started the half far better and carried menace too, as Guirane N'Daw saw speculative 30-yarder pushed behind by Ikeme before Chambers poked wide after Wolves failed to clear a corner.

Wolves were utterly devoid of creativity and things got worse as Ipswich scored a simple second goal.

Campbell took advantage of Roger Johnson misjudging a header forward by Chambers to skip through and beat the offside trap before slotting past Ikeme for his 10^th goal in 16 games since joining on loan from QPR.

Three minutes later, Solbakken made a triple substitution with Jamie O'Hara, Tongo Doumbia and Jermaine Pennant replacing Karl Henry, David Davis and Kevin Doyle.

But it was the taking off of the striker which angered the fans the most, and there were unsavoury chants of 'you don't know what you're doing'.

Although Wolves on paper carried more attacking threat, with Sigurdarson pushed up front alongside Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Doumbia and O'Hara pushing on from midfield, it didn't materialise.

And in fact, it was Ipswich who looked the more likely scorers.

Campbell sent a curling attempt straight at Ikeme after former Wolves loanee Carlos Edwards beat Stephen Ward and fed the killer pass.

Ebanks-Blake's touch let him down as he tried to control a long ball with only keeper Wayne Henderson to beat.

But Ipswich should have made it 3-0 in the third minute of time added on when substitute Michael Chopra bent the ball wide with Ikeme to beat after some awful play from Christophe Berra allowed him to be played clean through.

The final whistle couldn't come quickly enough for Wolves fans, many of whom had streamed out well before the end.