Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Preston North End 0

The theory that top teams can win matches when not at their best is one of the main ingredients of the footballing blueprint for success.

It is one which, for the moment at least, Wolverhampton Wanderers are turning into an art form.
Of the last four outings, Wolves' best performance came at West Bromwich Albion when they finished the afternoon with a solitary point. In the other three, all home matches, they have huffed and puffed without ever firing on all cylinders. Yet they have won all three matches for a return of nine points which has propelled them into third position and within sight of the Championship summit. Funny old game. Funny old league.

Three goals in four matches has yielded a total of 10 points, and far better that than some of the blistering football Wolves produced at the tail-end of last season only to finish up with nothing. Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager, said: "If we can't play the free-flowing football that we love to do, then we just have to win the game.

"That's by whatever means and maybe we've had to sacrifice some of that open football and have had to defend but we've done it well.

"I've been in this league for so long and I know that it takes so much hard work. There's nobody that much better or more gifted than anyone else but I know why we're up there at the moment, it's because our lads put a real shift in and graft for each other and I admire them for that."

Preston North End arrived at Molineux with new manager Alan Irvine looking for a first win at the third attempt. If their lowly status raised the spectre of another lacklustre 90 minutes such as Wolves had played out against Colchester three days earlier, the first few minutes were anything but.

McCarthy is already mindful of the absence through injury of Michael Kightly perhaps stifling Wolves' tempo but his players were clearly keen to compensate for the winger's loss, judging by their early abandon.

No-one suffered more in those kamikaze early stages than Freddy Eastwood. After only two minutes, the mercurial striker did what he has done on each of his last three Wolves starts - hit the woodwork - by prodding against the post after Stephen Ward's flick-on.

Two minutes later Eastwood was in again, fed by Stephen Elliott after a breakaway sparked by goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, only to find Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan quickly off his line to smother his shot.

It wasn't all Wolves in the incredible open-ing and, in between Eastwood's two chances, Preston defender Liam Chilvers saw a header ruled out for offside after seemingly chesting home Callum Davidson's free-kick.

Preston posed a danger from set-pieces throughout the contest, while Simon Whaley also forced Hennessey into one or two awkward saves and Davidson will wonder just how he blazed over the bar from close range, albeit under pressure from the Wolves keeper.

But as the match neared the hour, it was Wolves who made the decisive breakthrough through stand-in skipper Karl Henry.

The ever-consistent midfielder latched on to Eastwood's clever lay-off and was allowed space to advance before planting a shot beyond Lonergan to end the stalemate.

Preston mustered one or two decent attempts to level, Neil Mellor bringing Hennessey into action and Andy Carroll firing wide but Wolves hung on for a fifth successive clean sheet to crown another solid, if unspectacular, success.

"Three more points, that's the main thing," the pragmatic McCarthy said. "The fans have had to suffer through the last two 90 minutes like the rest of us but, when they see the league, they'll be thinking it looks far better."

Scorer: Henry (55) 1-0.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (4-4-2): Hennessey; Foley, D Ward, N Collins, Gray; Gibson (Jarvis 58), Olofinjana, Henry, S Ward; Elliott (Keogh 75), Eastwood (Potter 85). Subs: Ikeme (gk), Little.
PRESTON NORTH END (4-4-2): Lonergan; St Ledger, Chilvers,Mawene, Hill; Sedgwick (Gallagher 79), Davidson, McKenna, Whaley; Agyemang (Carroll 79), Ormerod (Mellor 65). Subs: C. Neal (gk), Halls.
Referee: A. D'Urso (Billericay).
Bookings: Preston - St Ledger (foul).
Att: 22, 836.
Wolves man of the match: The consistency of Karl Henry has been a revelation since he arrived at Molineux but this was something else as he drove on from midfield to seal a priceless win.