So just a few hours and counting – and Wolves and Albion will, yet again, square up for the latest Battle of the Black Country.
Six derbies in 13 months, five in the year 2007, what’s that phrase about having too much of a good thing?
Certainly too much of a good thing where Albion are concerned, as with four out of five wins last season, including both legs of the play-off semi final, all the bragging rights are certainly currently occupying the blue and white corner of the region as opposed to gold and black.
Indeed those 2,000-plus Wolves fans making the short sojourn down the A41 tomorrow morning must surely be doing so more in hope than expectation.
After all, Wolves haven’t won in seven visits to The Hawthorns stretching back to “Iwan Roberts Day” in 1996.
And with two wins to Albion’s nine from the last 15 derbies the weight of recent history is akin to that of one of those Darts boys currently plying their trade at the Civic.
And yet, such is the up-and-down nature of life as a football fan that the ultra-optimistic will head off in their cars, coaches or trams somehow dreaming that Wolves can upset the applecart not only of those recent meetings and also current form.
Can they do it? It’s a big ask.
The suggestion that Wolves have an advantage because of possessing more derby-day experience for me doesn’t wash.
Does it matter that it might be a first Black Country derby for the likes of Bostjan Cesar, Felipe Teixeira, Roman Bednar?
Of course not. There are big games, derby games, all over Europe, not just in England and not just in the Black Country.
No. The only way for Wolves to get a positive result tomorrow, and by that I include what would be a very good draw, is to defend stoutly, try and suppress Albion’s free-flowing style and avoid any Scott Carson-esque mistakes.
Then, if Michael Kightly can do his stuff on the break, or Jay Bothroyd or Freddy Eastwood produce something out of their ordinary, just maybe Wolves have a chance.
Meanwhile without wishing to try and sound too politically correct, all football fans must surely hope that tomorrow’s proceedings pass without unsavoury incident both on and off the pitch.
Mick McCarthy, hardly a shrinking violet himself as a player, was at pains to point out in his pre-match press conference that while last season’s five derbies were all fiercely competitive that rivalry never spilled over.
Both he, and Tony Mowbray, will be hoping for similar tomorrow whatever the result.
And off the pitch, despite the several off-field antics involving a minority of both club’s support last season, it would be far better to focus on the good-spirited relations between Wolves and Albion fans throughout the Midlands.
In any office, factory or workplace – and that includes the Birmingham Mail – there are Wolves and Albion fans constantly at each other’s throats and taking the you-know-what out of each other, day in day out.
Monday morning will be no different, and neither should it be.
Such exchanges and banter help make football such a great sport, but at the same time cut away the blue and white or gold and black from fans across the divide and they’re all pretty much made of the same stuff.
Tomorrow, and any Wolves and Albion derby, should provide the opportunity for fans to show that it is right up there with any in the country for the right reasons, its passion and ferocity rather than anything untoward.
For me, perhaps the most gratifying part of the play-off semi finals was to scour Internet messageboards the following day to see right minded Wolves and Albion fans discussing the two games and offering congratulations or condolences as appropriate.
Finally back to tomorrow, and Chris’s comment below about Leon Barnett’s Auntie (Beverley) bring voted off the X-Factor.
To me that makes him a dead cert for the first goal – will the bookies be open near the Hawthorns?