Danny Batth: Positive Wolves can go places

The skipper scored twice as Paul Lambert's team won their fourth successive game on Saturday, beating Cardiff 3-1 to pull further clear of the drop zone.

In the process Wolves won a second successive home game for the first time in 13 months. That's in contrast to a dreadful run in February when they lost four in a row at Molineux.

And Batth – who hailed Helder Costa as 'frightening', Andreas Weimann as 'a revelation' and Ben Marshall as Wolves' best set piece taker in three years – wants more of the same before the end of the season.

"There's not a player in that dressing room who hasn't questioned why we've been better away from home than at home," he said.

"There's many ways of doing it but I think this time it came down to being positive and being on the front foot.

"It was about having a nothing to lose mentality really and I think the fans will go with that. As long as we're positive and on the front foot, they will get behind us.

"I think we still needed that third goal because they had a bit of belief that they could get a point.

"But we looked like we had the right sort of mix between playing good football and being direct.

"There was an extra pass in there at times, and we've just got to build on that.

"The test was to bring our away form to Molineux and we started with a positive line-up and the front four were brilliant.

"We've got to try to build on that now on Tuesday so we can start turning the right results out here regularly."

Nottingham Forest are the visitors tomorrow night and Wolves know victory will get them over the hallowed 50-point mark as they eye up securing Championship safety as soon as possible.

The captain, who netted his second and third goals of the season and scored at Molineux for the first time in two years, added: "We said after the international break that there's a great opportunity for us to wrap it up at Molineux and really go into games building for next season so if gaffer wants to try something different, he can.

"But the important thing is to keep picking up wins at Molineux and that's what we want to do against Forest.

"I think league form goes out of the window now at this stage of the season.

"Burton beat Huddersfield away on Saturday so no one can look at the fixtures before kick-off and be sure that one team will win and another will lose.

"It's a bit of a lottery but if we keep working and playing like that, we won't do too badly.

"When we were losing and struggling to even draw, we were winning every single stat apart from that one that matters which is goals scored.

"I think Andi Weimann has been a revelation up front with his movement and ability to being players into play.

"He said to me when he first got here that he feels his best position is through the middle. I think he really does cause a threat with his dynamic qualities.

"We've got Ivan Cavaleiro coming back to full fitness and Ben Marshall has been a good addition, which all takes the heat off Helder Costa a little bit and we saw that on Saturday.

"He was opening up and getting opportunities so hopefully we can keep them all fit and on the pitch."

Marshall had a hand in both of Batth's goals, with his free kick leading to the first and his whipped cross onto Batth's head resulting in the second, just before half time.

Batth, a former team mate of Marshall when the pair were at Sheffield Wednesday, said Wolves have been lacking that quality for years.

"Even in training, he gives you something to have a run at and that's what we've been missing at Molineux for the last two or three years," Brierley Hill-born Batth added.

"I've been saying for a long time that we don't score enough goals from set-pieces and that kind of delivery always gives lads a chance to get their head on it.

"I'm really happy. Marshall's a good friend of mine – I knew him from Sheffield Wednesday and I knew what kind of quality he would bring to the team.

"He adds that vision and technique to open up a defence, whether it's a through ball or a cross."

Batth's brace – the first of his career – almost became a hat-trick when he headed a Marshall corner just over in the second half.

If Wolves had won a penalty, would he have taken it to seal a treble? "Maybe if we were 5-1 up and their keeper had been sent off!

"The lads were saying I could have ran up the South Bank if that (header) had gone in!

"I can't remember when I did it as a pro but I scored a few goals when I was younger. It's my first brace in the league.

"I was just delighted to win because winning here was the most important thing."

Batth's double was added to be a magical third goal from Costa, who fooled Cardiff's Sean Morrison and Allan McGregor with a jinking run and finish.

The captain could barely summon up the words to describe the Portuguese winger;s strike.

"I don't really know how to describe it – I'd need to see it again because it was one of the best things I've ever seen," he said.

"It was ridiculous. It was almost as if the ball was stuck to his foot.

"He's capable of that – we've seen it before, at QPR for example but he's just frightening really when he's running at people in the box.

"You can see it in his game now. He's come through a bit of a tired spell where maybe he's played one too many games but he looks potent.

"Yes and he's had a lot of adjusting to do as well to build up to what's required, defensively as well.

"He's a brilliant player and I can't speak highly enough of him."