Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo believes the club’s battle to beat the drop next season will be even more difficult.

Burnley’s 4-0 defeat at home to Liverpool guaranteed Mick McCarthy’s side a second successive season of Barclays Premier League football.

Although Wolves have cause to celebrate, and a platform on which to build for next season, Iwelumo is already warning of tough times ahead.

“There are a lot of positives, and I am sure we can work on the negatives and we are only going to get stronger,” said Iwelumo.

“Next year we will bring in a bit of quality, but it is going to be a hard season again.

“We are going to be fighting again and with a little bit of luck we won’t be sucked into that bottom part, but it is a hard league.

Dream

“We can all dream we can be up there, but I’m telling you now next season will be just as hard, if not harder, because people know what to expect.

“Look at the teams coming up – Newcastle and West Brom. They’ve been there, done it, have strength in depth and money behind them.

“So all we can do is make sure we get the right players and right characters in with the right work ethic and hopefully that little bit of quality, and build slowly but surely.”

Iwelumo holds Stoke up as the perfect example of a team that has been able to build year on year, despite their 7-0 thrashing at Chelsea.

“Stoke do it well. They get their points from playing the way they play,” added Iwelumo.

“I can’t see them drastically changing it, and when they do, it will be a slow change over a period of four or five years when they start bringing in the quality.”