Steve Madeley, The Athletic: Wolves treating Brentford fixture like cup final | OneFootball

Wolves head to Gtech Community Stadium fighting to keep their Premier League survival hopes alive, explains The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, with Rob Edwards’ side showing clear signs of improvement in recent weeks.

Attention now turns to Monday night’s trip to Brentford (8pm kick-off GMT, live on Sky Sports), where eye-catching wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool have given belief that a late-season escape might still be possible.

The defeat to Brentford at Molineux just before Christmas was Wolves' 10th Premier League loss in a row, but things started to change shortly after that. How would you summarise the first three months of the calendar year?

Things started to change, I would say, in the game against Liverpool on 27 December, which was effectively Wolves' Boxing Day game.

Even though they lost, there was a real, marked improvement in performance. Since then, they have won three and drawn five, but have been competitive in every game, with the possible exception of Chelsea on 7 February.

They look better organised, better coached, harder to beat and they are staying in games, which was not the case earlier in the season under Vítor Pereira or in the first month under Rob Edwards. That is basically what has changed and it is paying off.

The squad itself has still got the fundamental weaknesses it had at the start of the season and, in fact, it is probably weaker. With the situation they are in, they took the decision in January to make some strategic sales and loans to put them in a better position for the summer.

Man-for-man, the squad is probably weaker now, but they are a better organised, more competitive team now.

After the FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Liverpool, Rob Edwards said the Brentford game was Wolves’ cup final. Do you think 'The Great Escape' is possible?

I do not think so. My ears pricked up when he said that but, listening back to it, I think it is the classic manager line that the next game is the priority. I do not think he was particularly singling out the Brentford game.

Having said that, I do not think anyone at Wolves thinks they are going to get out the situation and I do not think more than a handful of fans think they have really got a chance. But, just to play devil's advocate, they could not have hand-picked the final fixtures any better themselves

Brentford away is, on paper, the toughest one they have got left. They have not got to play anyone in the top six between now and the end of the season.

If Wolves are going to have a chance of staying up from this position, they have probably got to win six or seven of the last eight games so, basically, every game is a cup final because they can only afford one or maybe two slip-ups.

Those last two league wins have just made people think, if they can beat Aston Villa and Liverpool, they have got a chance of winning every game until the end of the season, but I do not think anyone really thinks they are going to win six or seven to stay up.

If they do get relegated, looking beyond the summer, do you think going down with a fight like this will stand them in good stead for next year?

When Edwards came in, Wolves were already 70-80 per cent relegated anyway. He needed to have a massive impact straightaway, which did not happen because the squad was so poor and demoralised that it took him a while to get going.

His job was never really about keeping Wolves up, it was about restoring a bit of pride and, from his point of view, doing enough to convince the fans he was the man to bring them back next season.

The club's intention always was, and still is, that he was a long-term appointment and he was going to be the man to lead them in the Championship next season.

If it had gone really badly, then it would have been difficult for them to stick to that plan, but I think, at the moment, he has probably done enough to give himself that chance.

Should the last eight go really badly, the debate may well get reopened. From his point of view, regardless of where they finish, he needs a good end for his own standing with the fans.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for on Monday?

It is an obvious choice, but I will go for the two Brazilian guys in the centre of midfield, André and João Gomes. Both have had dips at various points of the season, but they were both outstanding in the Villa game and the Liverpool league game.

It is no coincidence that when the two Brazil internationals play well, they win a couple of big games.

If those two perform as they did in those two games, Wolves have got a chance of winning the midfield battle, which is key to most games.

What should Keith Andrews' men expect from Wolves in terms of shape and style?

They generally play a three/five at the back, so three centre-backs, two wing-backs and, ahead of that, it has been flexible, but it is generally a midfield diamond.

So, three midfielders, one holding and two either side, and one just ahead of them, playing off a central striker. It is a 5-3-1-1 kind of system.

What's your score prediction?

Like I said, Wolves have become a lot more competitive, so I will give them a chance at competing, but Brentford are a good team going well. I will go for a 1-1 draw.