Wolves march on after Bradford win - analysis and pictures

But Molineux will happily trade that moment for the far more significant efforts from Tom Eaves and Alex Ravell on Saturday.

Both came in the 90th minute of distant games at Shrewsbury and Rotherham and clipped the wings – finally – of Brentford and Leyton Orient at the top of League One.

At last, then, Kenny Jackett's team were able to make headway in their quest for automatic promotion and a return to the top two more than made up for the slight anti-climax of a blank day for the much-discussed Clarke.

Wolves have been getting better and playing well but in choosing to fix what wasn't broken, Jackett has been decisive and bold in continuing his now expansive re-wiring of a team suffering from a shortage of goal power.

In truth, there was nothing in this game from which any great conclusions could be drawn because it was over as a contest before the half hour when Bradford City's Nathan Doyle collected the second of two quick bookings.

From that moment, the 10 men he left behind knew what was coming even if they fought manfully to delay it for as long as possible.

But a week which included a 3-0 victory at Oldham, in which all the goals were scored by Jackett signings, closed with Clarke's inclusion extending the head coach's revamp.

At the start of the season, and with Wolves retaining significant personnel from the carnage of double relegations, a slower pace of change was imagined.

The message from Friday's last-day-of-business dealings, however, was that of a head coach who sees little value in retaining yesterday's personnel.

Of the 11 outfield players used against Bradford, he inherited Bakary Sako and Richard Stearman but can claim to have been a primary influence in advancing the senior careers of Danny Batth and Jack Price.

And Price, incidentally, is fast coming up on the rails behind Batth as an equally coveted and impressive 'home' product.

But the bulk of the team now is very obviously Jackett's and that he has focused his recruitment on players charged with carrying the game to the opposition passes a very real and damning verdict on what he inherited.

For too long, Wolves have not only been unsuccessful but tough to watch – I suppose they go hand in hand – but the match-day experience, as the corporate suits like to brand it, is now very different.

And it has nothing to do with the prawn sarnies. Jackett's Wolves are better with the ball and while that has still to reveal itself with some more punishing scorelines, it's difficult to imagine that day is far away.

Which brings us to Clarke: The Sequel and this contentious but very determined re-signing of a player closely associated with past despairs.

That 18-month contract and Jackett's comments – "he has been successful at this level for a number of clubs for a number of years now" – show this transfer to be a very specific, horses-for-courses deal.

How did he do?

Well, not bad; nod bad at all. First and most obviously, Clarke returns a leaner and slicker figure than the troubled youth Molineux remembers and he was barely a couple of minutes proving the point.

Sprinting across to charge down a Rory McArdle clearance, the new No.9 was away and in sight of a dream start as he bore down on Jon McLaughlan's goal.

But it has never been quite that straightforward for Clarke and Wolves – his last touch before firing was just a little too heavy, taking him wide and providing McLaughlan and the chasing McArdle the chance to block his finish.

Throughout the rest of the game, any number of chances and half chances eluded him with a goal-line block by the resourceful Stephen Darby to deny a deft little clip over the goalkeeper the most obvious frustration.

But intriguingly Jackett is intent on deploying his latest signing as the second striker, utilising Clarke's soft touch and presence to thread together the advances of the midfield players around him.

In this arm of his duties, he succeeded and all in all left a positive enough impression to warm a sceptical Molineux to the idea of his return.

For the moment, though, it is his immediate predecessor in the striker signings, Nouha Dicko, who is catching the eye more readily.

Dynamic, quick and surprisingly powerful, Dicko got enough of a touch on the ball in Wolves' second goal to claim it and reinforce the view that a major role awaits in the final and most telling phase of this season of change.

There were early signs, too, of Dicko tuning into Clarke's wavelength as did Sako and his replacement, James Henry, with crosses that really should have produced more goals.

In the end Wolves didn't need them.

Despite Bradford's commendably-spirited resistance, which saw the 10 men break out of defence to twice strike the woodwork with shots from range by Adam Reach and Darby, it was a hopelessly one-sided contest.

And it was even before Doyle, having been hassled out of possession by Dicko, pulled back the striker for his first yellow and then, eight minutes later, arrived a fraction late and with studs showing on Kevin McDonald.

The flow of the game towards Bradford's goal had already been established but his dismissal made it a formality.

Wolves, though, had to wait until added time at the end of the first half to make the breakthrough although when it came it confirmed the rising importance of McDonald to this team.

He is now in the richest form of his first Molineux season and further justified the attentions of his international manager with an intelligent finish from a chance provided by Sako – passing the ball into the net with precision from the area's fringes.

Alongside him, Price is growing in stature. For such a young player, he carries the priceless virtue of keeping his game simple but effective with faultless decision-making, passing it at the right time and invariably accurately.

Sako's return to the fray also continues to enliven Wolves.

It was his cross, after escaping down the side of Bradford's tiring defence, which was forced home by the combination of Dicko and Darby just before the hour.

The goals which followed at different venues to the west and the north were bonuses Wolves happily received.

So a fourth win in a row and a chink, just a little chink, in the armour-plated results-gathering of the teams above. Yes, a good day for Wolves – and one brightened still further by the notion that even better ones lie ahead.