John Ruddy: Wolves the team everyone wants to beat

Wolves head to Blues for a big West Midlands derby on Monday night looking to extend their winning run to six matches.

They may do so with their lead having been cut, with Cardiff hosting Norwich tonight and Sheffield United travelling to Millwall on Saturday. But Ruddy says it doesn’t matter how big their advantage is. “We are not focusing on gaps or points or how far ahead we are,” he said.

“We need to focus on our job. We had three tough games last week and to come through them with nine points – it’s really rewarding but no more than we deserved.

“We have made a rod for our own back if you like because everyone is wanting to be the team that upsets us.

“We’ve got to be strong enough to stand up to that, different types of game plans and opposition and make sure we implement our style of play and our game plan into every single game we go into.”

Wolves have shown no signs of complacency so far and the experienced 31-year-old keeper says the influence of Nuno Espirito Santo looms large on that front.

“He is just very, very focused on keeping everyone else’s focus as well and I think that is a massive thing in football, to maintain the momentum we’ve got and keep going,” Ruddy added.

“I think defensively we’ve been sound for the majority of the season and attacking-wise everyone knows the threat we have got.

“It is not just the players on the pitch and who are starting, it’s the players coming off the bench as well who are having an impact and making a difference. To have that in the squad is fantastic.

“The special things are the things happening on the pitch. We are getting the results and making teams look average.

“With the players we’ve got and quality we’ve got, we will maintain that hopefully. Momentum is a massive thing in this league. We’ve got that with us and we need to keep it.”