Wolves 3 West Brom 1:THE LOCAL bragging rights belong to Wolverhampton Wanderers, as the Tannoy announcer was so pleased to proclaim at the final whistle, but the bigger picture is Premier League survival is back in their own hands.

This restorative victory over their bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion, courtesy of two goals from Steven Fletcher and another from Adlene Guedioura, lifts Wolves out of the relegation zone for the first time since February.

It was the shot in the arm Wolves so badly needed after picking up only two points from their previous five matches. That record contrasted sharply with Albion’s impressive results in recent weeks, but the adage that form goes out of the window during derby matches was proved to be true as Wolves laid siege to their opponents in the opening 45 minutes, racing into a two-goal lead that exposed the visitors’ defensive fragility at set-pieces.

When Fletcher capitalised on a mistake by Abdoulaye Meite two minutes after the restart to make it 3-0 Wolves were cruising and the contest looked to be over. Yet the complexion of the game changed from the moment that Guedioura needlessly brought down Jerome Thomas in the penalty area. Peter Odemwingie converted from the spot to register his 15th goal of the season and become the first player to score in five successive Premier League matches this season.

Renewed belief coursed through Albion and they began to play like the team that has been revitalised since Roy Hodgson replaced Roberto Di Matteo three months ago.

Simon Cox, Thomas and Somen Tchoyi had chances to score again but the combination of Wayne Hennessey’s goalkeeping, the crossbar and the visitors’ profligacy enabled Wolves to stagger over the line with their two-goal lead intact and celebrate a result that lifts them above Wigan Athletic and Blackpool with two fixtures remaining.

Fletcher set up Guedioura’s goal in between the two he scored to take his tally to 11 for the season and seven in his last five matches. He was the star of the show but Stephen Hunt and Stephen Ward deserve more than a passing mention. Ward worked tirelessly alongside Fletcher in attack, while Hunt snapped into tackles and fully justified Mick McCarthy’s surprising decision to pick him ahead of the England international Matt Jarvis.

As good as Wolves were before the interval, it was impossible to ignore Albion’s shortcomings at the back. Both of Wolves’ first-half goals came from Hunt corner-kicks, and Albion have now conceded 29 goals this season from set-pieces. Fletcher smashed in the first, after Guedioura chested the ball down, and the roles were reversed in the 28th minute, when Fletcher climbed above Cox to head across goal for Guedioura to volley in from two yards with no Albion player near him.

Hodgson blamed the first two goals on the lack of height in a side missing Steven Reid, Chris Brunt and Paul Scharner through injury and suspension, but that felt like an excuse for poor marking.

There was certainly no way that Meite could be absolved of blame for the third Wolves goal, after the central defender allowed Kevin Foley’s wayward through-ball to slip under his foot. Fletcher ruthlessly punished the mistake

Hennessey made an excellent save to deny Cox in the second half as Wolves began to sit deeper and invite pressure. Thomas also thumped a close-range shot against the bar and Tchoyi headed inches over as the home supporters became more and more anxious. Yet Wolves stood firm and could even have added a fourth in the closing minutes when Ward broke through before drilling wide of the far post.

Afterwards, Mick McCarthy was refusing to take anything for granted with two games remaining – away to Sunderland and at home to Blackburn.

He said: “It is pleasing and timely to be out of the bottom three. To take four points from two difficult local derbies is pretty good (Birmingham and West Brom) but I am still fully aware that there is work to be done.

“I am working on May 22nd time (the final day of the season) and, as far as I know, it is only May 8th. I am proud of the way we played, but there is plenty of work to be done.”