Cometh The Hour

In every big game comes a moment when a question gets asked of a player, when it's time to stand up and be counted and either become hero or get crushed by the weight of expectation on their shoulders.

Jay Bothroyd knows about defining moments. There have been many in his short career so far, and not all of them good, but at Molineux on a bright, autumnal afternoon he once again showed that cometh the hour, cometh the man as he fired Wolverhampton Wanderers to their sixth successive win in The Coca Cola Championship.

'The gaffer said to me 'do you fancy a bit of this' just after the hour mark, and of course I said yes. I then popped inside to the loo and when I came out he was shouting asking where I'd been!' he told the clubs official site

'I nearly scored with my first touch, but their keeper did well, and that gave me a big confidence boost.

'I know Dean Kiely from when I was at Charlton and it became a bit of a personal battle between us. I was chatting to him before the game and then at half-time, and I was warning him to be on his guard!'

Kiely heeded that warning, but was unable to do anything about Bothroyds' pinpoint shot through a crowded penalty area that settled the tie in favour of Mick McCarthy's side.

Which all puts McCarthy back to square one, the place he finds himself almost every week now after his side leaves the field.

A blank piece of paper, a squad full of golden warriors, and the selection headache of who to start on Tuesday night when Wolves travel to The Ricoh Stadium to take on Coventry City

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.