The Churchililian rhetoric of the night before - when Wolves chairman Steve Morgan revealed “a 10-year masterplan to develop the club”, including ground expansion proposals to “bring the crowd closer to the pitch, so the opposition are terrified” - was conspicuously absent on Friday at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground. Manager Mick McCarthy was the archetypal dour Yorkshireman, straight-batting questions about pressure to reach the playoffs. “I’ve done my job for 45 games and we have one more to play, which we want to win, but if Watford and Crystal Palace win their games, there is not a jot we can do about it,” he summarised. True, but unlikely to induce trepidation in his team’s chief rivals for a playoff place.

McCarthy has been through it all before with Millwall, Ireland, Sunderland and Wolves last season. He understands how the players and staff of Watford and Palace, in particular, will be feeling, for “they are in the box seat and can only lose it”. Wolves can only try to stay in the hunt. “It seems like nearly every year as a manager I’ve been involved in this kind of scenario,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t give a fiddler’s fart about what’s gone on before because, in terms of this weekend, it just doesn’t matter.”

So McCarthy exited, making way for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, the striker he bought from Plymouth in January. His exuberant play and exhilarating goals have sustained the fight for promotion at Molineux and, reportedly, sparked interest from Everton. With 23 goals, he leads the race for the Championship’s golden boot and his brilliant solo effort against Charlton in March – chasing a long ball to the byline, backheeling the ball through the legs of defender Paddy McCarthy and drilling his left-footed shot past goalkeeper Nicky Weaver – was one of the goals of the season. “I knew what I wanted to do but it doesn’t always come off,” he reflected. “It was a really instinctive moment.”

Pace and strength, a sure touch and composure in front of goal were evident, too. “He is capable of scoring all types of goals, with either foot, the sublime or the scrappy,” Steve Claridge, the former Wolves striker, said recently. “His second at Charlton took the breath away, showcasing his skill. He also scores the odd tap-in from second-phase balls. Strikers with that sort of anticipation seem to be the ones who score 18 to 20 goals a season, rather than 12 to 15.”

Three years ago the 22-year-old believed that he was on the cusp of achieving even more. He was 15 when he left his home city of Cambridge to join Manchester United as a trainee. Twice he appeared in the Youth Cup final before he formed a promising partnership with Giuseppe Rossi in the reserve team. His first-team debut came in a League Cup game at Crewe in 2004 and he scored his first senior goal against Barnet a year later in the same competition. Sir Alex Ferguson held him in high enough regard to include him on the bench for Champions League fixtures against Fenerbahce and Lille.

“I was playing really well and felt that my chance was just around the corner,” he said. “Giuseppe and I were level pegging until I broke my leg [near the end of the 2004-05 season]. He went on to play more games and when I came back and tried to get to that level again there were players like Wayne Rooney, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer coming back from injury, and Louis Saha and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Sir Alex encouraged me and the experience of being involved in a Champions League tie at Fenerbahce was incredible. I soaked it up because Solskjaer once told me that you never stop learning, no matter how old you are. That’s the mentality that exists there.

“So when I spoke to Sir Alex [at the end of the 2005-06 season] he said he thought that I’d be a really good player in three years, but at United they’re looking for something more instant, so we agreed it would be good for me to move on [to Plymouth]. I had no regrets because I know I benefited from the best education any young player could get. I had a year left on my contract and there are players who would stay to try to break into the team. But, for me, it was about playing football and I saw an opportunity to do that at a good level.”

Ebanks-Blake was Ian Holloway’s first signing as Plymouth manager and he scored 10 goals in his first season, before reaching 11 by this season’s midpoint when Wolves made their move. “I watched him in the reserve leagues while I was at Sunderland. Most of all, he was a goalscorer and he’s always had that eye for goal,” McCarthy reiterated. “I don’t think anyone at United thought Sylvan wasn’t a good player - in fact, I know Sir Alex thought a lot of him - but he wasn’t going to get into their team and win the Champions League and that’s what their players have to do. But he’s come here, shown his talent and he might get us promoted, which is him being a success at the level he’s at.”

He will need to do his business against his old club this afternoon. If he does and if defensive frailty does not betray Wolves, maybe next season he will have the chance to return to his alma mater. But, as the dour Yorkshireman cautioned, Wolves are a million miles away from that at the moment.