Wolves skipper Sam Ricketts: We paid price of dire defending

Last night's shock 2-1 defeat ended Wolves' 10-match unbeaten run but they remain top and three points ahead of third-placed Leyton Orient, with another game in hand.

Wolves' first defeat since January 3 at Gillingham was the first time they have conceded more than once since the 3-3 draw at Rotherham on December 21 and also cost them a club-record equalling fifth straight away win. And Ricketts admitted Wolves defended poorly.

"We haven't done that all season, but that's football," he said. "It was very frustrating; you go into every game wanting to win and we got the lead in a scrappy game and then uncharacteristically gave away two sloppy goals."

But Ricketts stressed they haven't lost ground and they're not invincible.

"It's important to put it into perspective – that was only the fifth defeat this season, but we're not unbeatable," said the skipper.

"No-one said it was going to be easy to get promoted and we're all bitterly disappointed.

"But we're still top and have a game in hand on Leyton Orient in third, which shows what a run we've been on and the quality in the side."

"It was always going to be scrappy because of the conditions but we let them back into the game and we were playing catch-up," added Ricketts.

"We gave them something to hold on to and they defended really well."

"They executed their gameplan as well as they could have done."

Ricketts added: "We did the hard thing by getting in front but in the past when we've gone ahead, we've generally held on, dug in or pulled away from sides.

"You learn from it, take it on the chin and carry on."