West Bromwich Albion, clearly, are learning their lessons from last season. Indicating that they have put FA Cup disappointment behind them, Tony Mowbray’s team posted notice of their Barclays Premier League calibre with a superb performance last night to reclaim leadership of the Championship. To do so at the home of their fiercest rivals and dent the play-offs hopes of Wolverhampton Wanderers into the bargain merely added to the sweetness of their celebrations.

The West Brom players celebrated with their supporters in front of the Steve Bull Stand on the final whistle as if they had won the title and, with three games to play, they are within touching distance of a return to the top flight after a two-year absence. Wolves, by contrast, came up short last night, although they still have a game in hand as they seek to make up three points on sixth-placed Crystal Palace.

West Brom fell away from automatic promotion contention last season after being knocked out of the Cup by Middlesbrough in a fifth-round replay and ended up losing to Derby County in the play-offs final, but this time around, despite missing out on the Cup Final itself by one game after losing to Portsmouth at Wembley 11 days ago, they look set to go one better and avoid the play-offs altogether.

Albion were a class act last night. Zoltan Gera, the Hungary winger scored the decisive goal midway through the second half but, in Jonathan Greening, James Morrison, Robert Koren and Kevin Phillips they have players of top-flight quality.

The goal arrived when Phillips, having sent a shot against a post two minutes earlier, had the quality to bring Neil Clement’s pass out of the sky, turn inside Jody Craddock and lay the ball across for Gera to score his ninth goal of the season. Both scorer and provider are out of contract this summer, but Mowbray believes that Albion’s style of play will be as likely a factor to persuade them to stay at The Hawthorns as any financial incentive. “We play a brand of football that suits their talents,” the West Brom manager said.

Gera had also headed against the junction of bar and post in the first period from a free kick dispatched by the majestic Greening. Wolves, who have played West Brom seven times in the past 18 months and lost five of those games, rallied during the first half, forcing a succession of corners, but after the goal they could never find the same incisiveness of pass that their opponents produced.

“They scored the goal, that was the difference,” Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager, said. “I’m hurting tonight, the players are hurting, but if we win the next four games, this result won’t bother me because we’ll be in the play-offs.”

Wolves threw on two more forwards, in Freddy Eastwood and Kevin Kyle, but McCarthy could have introduced 11 strikers and Albion still would have had too much class. “I’ll take 1-0 but on chances created we could have won by a greater margin,” Mowbray said.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-4-2): W Hennessey - K Foley (sub: K Kyle, 81min), J Craddock, N Collins, G Elokobi - M Gray (sub: F Eastwood, 74), S Olofinjana, D Gibson, M Jarvis - S Ebanks-Blake, A Keogh. Substitutes not used: G Breen, D Potter, G Stack. Booked: Elokobi.

West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): D Kiely - C Hoefkens, L Barnett, N Clement, P Robinson - Z Gera, R Koren, J Greening, J Morrison (sub: L Moore, 90) - K Phillips (sub: P Pele, 85), I Miller (sub: R Bednar, 46). Substitutes not used: S Martis, C Brunt. Booked: Greening.

Referee: M Clattenburg.