Preview: Blackpool away

Wolves face their first Friday night match in 6 years this Friday as they travel North up the M6 to face Michael Appleton's Blackpool. The last time we played on a Friday night, it was an entertaining 1-1 draw at home to Roy Keane's Sunderland in Mick McCarthy's first season here. Given the nature of the two sides playing this weekend, it's likely that the Sky viewers will be treated to another entertaining contest.

Ebanks-Blake scores a rare Premier League goal against Blackpool

Many Wolves fans would love a result similar to our last game against Blackpool. In our second Prem season under McCarthy, the two sides met at Molineux in a huge 6-pointer. Wolves were bottom of the table and feeling incredibly deflated - having just given away a 92nd minute equaliser to West Brom at the Hawthorns the week before whilst Blackpool, having enjoyed a fantastic start to the season under Ian Holloway, were in freefall - although they had just enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Tottenham in the midweek before. But Wolves soon blew the predictions and expectations of failure out the window, taking the lead in the 2nd minute through Matt Jarvis after fantastic play down the right by Adam Hammill. Despite Wolves' total dominance though, they couldn't get the second goal during the first half. The game-changing moment came in the 45th minute when DJ Campbell was sent off for foolishly raising his hand to Stearman's face. Wolves then made their man advantage count in the second half, dominating possession and chances even more, before Jamie O'Hara doubled their lead. Two late goals from substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake ensured Wolves came away with their biggest ever Premier League win. The reverse fixture at Bloomfield Road, earlier in the season, was less kind to Wolves. Goals from Luke Varney and Marlon Harewood meant a late Kevin Doyle goal was mere consolation. Wolves' recent record away at Blackpool is decent. In our last 10 league trips there, we've won 5 and drawn 4. Scoring isn't a problem for either side too, with just one 0-0 in the last 10 games between the two sides.

Tom Ince: Key player for Blackpool, but may not be there much longer

Blackpool currently sit slap bang in the middle of the table in 11th place. They've had a mixed season, having started well with 3 wins and 10 goals from their first 3 games. However, once September came around, results deteriorated and they suffered a run of 1 win in 5 games (suffering 3 defeats). October didn't bring much more joy either, with a 3-2 win over Hull at the start of the month followed by no wins in their next 5, before enjoying a 2-0 success away at Sheffield Wednesday. Since then, Michael Appleton has taken over although the Tangerines have suffered a similar run of results, with only 2 wins an 5 draws in their next 7 games (both coming in December). So inconsistency is the buzz word around Blackpool at the moment. As you would expect with Blackpool, their home form is key to them. They certainly have no trouble scoring goals at Bloomfield Road, with 23 goals at home - only 3 sides in the division have scored more. They've gained 17 of their 32 points at home and are unbeaten in their last 5 home games - although they've only won 1 of them. Indeed, their 2-0 victory over Blackburn last weekend was their first home win since September 18th. Their willingness to attack has seen them be open at the back too. The opposition have scored first in 13 games this season - only 5 of the current bottom 6 have a worse record than that and when they do go behind first, they've only come back to win once (drawing 6 and losing 6). They're also one of the lowest in the division on "scoring first" too - doing it only 9 times this season. Though when they've scored first, they haven't lost (winning 7 and drawing 2). Blackpool's standout player is, of course, the seemingly Liverpool-bound Tom Ince, who has 13 goals to his name already this season. However, Blackpool also have Kevin Phillips, who is Wolves' ultimate nemesis and, should he be fit for Friday's clash, must surely be involved as there aren't many players with a better scoring record against the Old Gold.

O'Hara: Would love to play tomorrow and recreate last meeting

As for Wolves, well our improvement against Bristol and Birmingham looked set to be continued with a well-earned point at Middlesbrough last weekend. However, due to some abysmal officials, we were robbed late on of that point despite having been the better side towards the end of the game. And so now we have a chance to build up some momentum and pull ourselves up the table with a win before other sides play. Indeed, with 3 points at Bloomfield Road on Friday night, Wolves can haul themselves up to 13th in the table. Given Blackpool's record of conceding first, they must surely be fearing a Wolves team who have scored first in 14 games this season - the second best record in the division. However, if Blackpool take the lead at any time, it's unlikely Wolves will come back. We've not come back from behind to win a game all season, only coming back to draw twice. And if Blackpool's early attacking leads to them scoring first, don't expect Wolves to come back. In the 8 games where the opposition have scored first, we've drawn 1 and lost 7 - only Peterborough United have a worse record when conceding first. As for our team selection - that 4-0 win over Blackpool was seen by many as Jamie O'Hara's finest game in a Wolves shirt and he could be back on the bench at Bloomfield Road if Solbakken deems him fit enough. Otherwise, it's not expected that the line-up will change much from the defeat at the Riverside last weekend. Wolves may see Doyle drop deeper and Sigurdarson urged to used his pace to match up with Tom Ince - especially given how Foley struggled against the pacey Emnes last weekend.

The world is apparently meant to end on Friday, but if both sides play to their full potential, the world could instead be set alight by a fantastic, end-to-end game of football. The pitch at Bloomfield Road is a problem though - it cuts up incredibly easily and will make Solbakken's passing style difficult and risks injuries, especially if the weather's bad. One thing's for sure, it won't be an easy game - particularly on a cold, wet and windy Friday night. But if we can get a result there, it could prove to be one of our biggest of the season!

Prediction: Blackpool 2-2 Wolves

In Stale We Trust.