Grays 0 Wolves 0

Jul 16 2007 By Paul Berry, Birmingham Mail

THERE'S nothing like a visit to a non-league venue to get the juices flowing at the start of a pre-season.

Forget your over-hyped Premiership and ridiculously inflated salaries.

From Grays' delightfully exuberant chairman Mick Woodward not only dishing out travel directions on the phone but then standing on the turnstile polishing off a pint of Guinness, to a rather rotund physio somewhat paradoxically taking the players through their post-match fitness regime, a visit to this Essex outpost is the perfect reminder of what football is all about.

Of course it was thanks largely to Woodward that Wolves were there at all, having stuck to his word when agreeing to Michael Kightly's £25,000 move to Molineux in January despite late - and presumably lucrative - interest from Manchester United.

Saturday's arduous journey down South was more than worth it for that Kightly deal, and Saturday also marked a return to his old stomping ground and first appearance in Wolves colours for new signing Freddy Eastwood.

Both Eastwood and Kightly appeared in the second half as Mick McCarthy played two different teams for the first competitive summer workout which ultimately proved a valuable if low-key affair.

With Wayne Hennessey rarely extended in the Wolves goal, most of the action focused at the other end with Gary Breen and Lewis Gobern bringing fine saves out of Danny Knowles in the first half and Jay Bothroyd having a shot cleared off the line in the second.

Bothroyd's display once again provided evidence of the enigma which McCarthy is trying to solve in order to get the best out of the undoubted talent.

Both he and Eastwood - very much on the first rung of the fitness ladder after finishing last season with a back injury - were constantly being cajoled into more action by McCarthy and yet Bothroyd was also at the hub of pretty much all Wolves' moments of purpose.

That delicate problem remains McCarthy's for another day, and while he knows Eastwood will come good he will also have taken heart from an encouraging first outing from Matt Jarvis and powerhouse defensive display from Darren Ward.

Throw in returns from injury of Rob Edwards and Karl Henry, and impressive displays from Kightly and Seyi Olofinjana, and the only downside of a game watched by impending new owner Steve Morgan was the "rocked ankle" which may rule Gobern out of the Ireland tour.

"We've only been back just under two weeks so this was always going to be just a fitness exercise," reflected McCarthy, whose team fly out tomorrow ahead of friendlies with Bray on Wednesday and Bohemians on Sunday.

"In that respect 45 minutes each was more than enough to provide the lads with a good workout."

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hennessey; Little (Edwards 45), Craddock (D. Ward 45), Breen (N. Collins 45), L. Collins (Mulgrew 45); Gobern (Bennett 28, Kightly 45), Potter (Henry 45), Gleeson (Olofinjana 45), Jarvis (Jones 45); S. Ward (Bothroyd 45), Keogh (Eastwood 45)