MICHAEL Kightly has accused Wolves of delivering an uncharacteristic performance without the usual fight at Stoke.

But the winger has promised a backlash in four games he describes as ‘cup finals’ that will determine their Premier League fate.

Kightly says the manner of the Britannia defeat was hard to take and says Wolves must get out of the blocks quickly against Blues on Sunday.

“I was obviously buzzing to be back starting and felt bang up for it before the game, as did the team,” he said.

“We all felt sharp and in good spirits but just weren’t good enough on the night, which was really disappointing. The way we lost, that’s just not us. Even if we end up losing games we have to lose them fighting and we need that back for the final four.

“For the five seasons I’ve been here the No.1 rule has always been to fight when times are tough and to battle even if we’re not playing well. That didn’t seem to happen against Stoke, which was disappointing.

“There is no-one in that dressing room who didn’t come off that pitch absolutely gutted. We all knew it wasn’t acceptable.

“We’ve got four games left and they are four cup finals and the chance to put things right starts against Birmingham. We have to guarantee that spirit and fighting quality even if we can’t guarantee the results. We want to survive in this league and we are going to fight every minute to do it. We didn’t do it at Stoke but are determined to do it over the last four games.”

Wolves are then up against a resurgent Baggies.

“We’ve got two big derby games now,” Kightly added.

“They say that form goes out of the window and we haven’t been great form-wise in the last four games.