Proudlock's double vindicates Jones' vision of progress

Sheffield Wednesday 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4

As Wolverhampton Wanderers re-entered play-off territory for the first time since mid-December, David Jones offered the sort of observation that recalled Howard Wilkinson's famous suggestion that the Leeds side he led to the last pre-Premiership First Division title had won the championship too soon.

Given that Leeds finished 17th the following season and have never subsequently done better than third, taken at face value it seems as baffling an example of Wilko-speak as his insistence on Saturday that Sunderland rid themselves of "the monkey on our back" in losing 3-1 at home to Charlton.

Jones, however, as a fellow coach, would have understood precisely what Wilkinson meant. Had his Wolves side made the Premiership last season, when instead they blew an eight-point lead and lost in the play-offs, he might have considered they had also peaked too early.

Two years into the project he took on when Colin Lee was dismissed, Jones, regardless of what happened last year, is convinced the club have made progress. "An awful lot is written about this football club and when we came off the rails as we did last year there was a massive negative reaction," Jones said. "That was understandable. But there were still a lot of good things happening at the club and a lot of good work had been done by the staff.

"Building a team is a process that does not happen overnight. You improve the team in stages but it takes time. When you bring in one quality player in one position, you expose a weakness somewhere else that needs to be addressed.

"You have to do the ground work first. You cannot lay your foundations on sandy ground and until someone gets a long run at it the long-term success that everyone wants for this club is not going to happen." Clearly, Jones would like "a long run at it" and one suspects there was an element of asking for patience in what he said, given that the club chairman Sir Jack Hayward's trigger finger was rumoured to be twitching again when the turn of the year saw Wolves stuttering in 10th place. But his logic is actually sound, just as Wilkinson's was after Leeds had pipped Manchester United to the title in 1992.

The Wolves side that blew their chance probably was not ready. Since then, Denis Irwin and Paul Ince have brought vital experience, and the eight players Jones signed during last season's £11.5m spending spree are well bedded in. Younger players, such as Matt Murray, Joleon Lescott – superb in this match – and Lee Naylor, have another year's development in their tanks.

That also applies to Adam Proudlock, the 21-year-old striker, who showed the benefit of a month on loan at Sheffield Wednesday – ironically – by scoring twice in the opening half, so that Jones could make light of having no Nathan Blake or George Ndah.

Proudlock had not scored for Wolves for 21 months, so Jones was understandably delighted. "He has been through a troubled time over the last few months and he needed first-team football, which is why he came here," Jones said. "He took his chances really well." Kenny Miller and Dean Sturridge added to Wednesday's woes, increasing the relegation worries for their manager, Chris Turner, whose building process is only at its start.

Goals: Proudlock (24) 0-1; Proudlock (42) 0-2; Miller (67) 0-3; Sturridge (89) 0-4.

Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Pressman; Westwood (Haslam, 74), Monk, Maddix, Barry-Murphy; Quinn, Robinson, Powell, Johnston; Reddy (Owusu, 74), Kuqi. Substitutes not used: Evans (gk), Soltvedt, Crane.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-4-2): Murray; Irwin, Butler, Lescott, Naylor; Newton (Sturridge, 64), Ince, Cameron, Kennedy (Andrews, 90); Miller (Rae 90), Proudlock. Substitutes not used: Oakes (gk), Clyde.

Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).

Booking: Wolves: Ince.

Man of the match: Lescott.

Attendance: 21,381.