Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Mark Kennedy is urging his players to stick to their attacking principles, despite costly lapses resulting in his side winning only one point from their last three home matches.

The last-minute defeat to Millwall in mid-September seemed a freakish result until last Friday night, when Burnley came to Molineux to perform a similar hit-and-run exercise.

Both matches left Wolves manager Glenn Hoddle saying "it feels like we've had our pockets picked".

With a 0-0 draw against a negative Leicester City side sandwiched in between, it has placed question marks against Wolves' ability to cope with opposition teams coming to Molineux and shutting up shop in the hope of grabbing points..

After seven successive home wins before that since March, this sudden dismantling of Fortress Molineux is a worry for Hoddle, who had the pitch widened this summer and has done a lot of work on the Compton Park training ground in order to counter defensive-minded opponents.

It has left Wolves 11 points adrift of Championship leaders Sheffield United, their opponents at Bramall Lane when they return to league action a week tomorrow.

But, as Wolves should know better than any team, 11-point leads don't count for much and his stand-in skipper Kennedy, in outstanding form this season as Wolves' chief midfield creator in the two-month absence of Paul Ince, stands by his manager's methods.

Kennedy said: "The last three home games have been very frustrating. There is a fine line between us being where we are now and being really there. Everyone is aware of it and I feel sorry for the gaffer because he knows how close we are.

"It is disappointing when teams play like Burnley did, but they have every right. We played like that enough when we were in the Premiership.

"The biggest worry after leathering two footballing teams like Stoke and Crewe is that teams will not try to go toe-to-toe with us because they will get beat but it is about finding a way round that and we've been working on that in training."

Kennedy's team-mate Lee Naylor says: "I think this is actually the best we've played for a long time.

"We might be in this league now but, if anything, we're playing like a Premiership team. Glenn has brought something new into the football club and he is what we needed. He has given me and the rest of the lads, a lot of confidence.

"We're playing probably better now than when we were a Premiership team. It's just frustrating that we don't always get our rewards, like on Friday night."

Having said that, unlike the Millwall defeat when Wolves had an off-night after being outwitted by former boss Colin Lee, Hoddle's side created more good chances against Burnley than they did in either of the heavy wins at Stoke and Crewe.

Kennedy said: "We've got to start putting the ball in the back of the net in these home games. We've got to get it sorted out."