Connor relief as miserable Molineux run comes to end

Terry Connor was pleased to give the Wolves fans a crumb of comfort at the end of a season of lows as they held Everton to a goalless draw at Molineux.

Yesterday’s result ended a run of nine straight home defeats in the Barclays Premier League and ensured they avoided an unwanted place in the record books.

Another loss would have equalled the Premier League mark for longest home losing run and most home defeats in a season (14), which are both held by Sunderland.

Wolves had to ride their luck in a game largely dominated by Everton, who twice had the ball in the net but saw Nikica Jelavic and Denis Stracqualursi both denied by the offside flag.

Connor, whose tenure as interim boss ends with next week’s trip to Wigan, said: “Everton have not lost in seven, they’ve scored four goals in three of their last four games, they’re a team bang in form, so to get a clean sheet from our point of view is a good effort.

“It was important to try to leave the fans with something. If we couldn’t win it then we wanted to take something from the game so they had something positive to go home with for the summer, and come back next year to support the club in its quest to be back in the Premier League.

“We tried to stay with the game, not concede goals, and nick something if we could. We took a point today and if we can go to Wigan and do the same then that’s three games without defeat. That would stand us in good stead for next year.”

The draw kept Everton a point above Fulham in the race for seventh place, with Liverpool a further three points behind but with a game in hand. The Toffees had a good early chance when Tim Cahill shot straight at Dorus De Vries, and they were left with a feeling of injustice in the 28th minute when Jelavic was flagged offside as he fired passed the keeper, with replays showing the Croatian was level.

Wolves’ best chance was a header from Christophe Berra over the bar, and the pattern continued after the break, with Marouane Fellaini and Jelavic wasteful from good openings.

Jelavic thought he had made amends in the 73rd minute when his cross was turned in by Stracqualursi at the far post, but Fellaini, who had also lunged for the ball, was a yard offside.

Everton assistant manager Steve Round admitted his side had paid for a lack of composure in front of goal, saying: “We had enough dominance in possession and created enough opportunities definitely. We just couldn’t take that defining moment, whether it was the pass or the final shot, and obviously we had a really good goal disallowed.”