CAVELEIRO CLIMBERS Wolves glee: ‘Nuno’s the Special One!’

“We are happy knowing that it is only the start,” Nuno (below) said. “There is a long, long way to go and we have to improve.”

The early signs are Wolves and their modest manager have certainly bridged the gulf between Championship and Premier League as impressively as any recently promoted sides.

For much of this contest, Southampton keeper Alex Mccarthy looked set to be the man of the match.

His two saves to deny the luckless Raul Jimenez in the first half, and then a breathtaking stop from the striker’s near-post header after 83 minutes might, another time, have bagged the champagne.

Yet by that time, Traore, who replaced Helder Costa when the midfielder got a knock early in the second half, had broken open the contest. Wolves’s record £18million summer signing electrifies and terrifies with his pace, even if his end product can be inconsistent. But here he combined the two, whipping around Wesley Hoedt and cutting back the ball to Jimenez who spun Jannik Vestergaard and laid the ball back for Cavaleiro to smash it high into the net. Then Matt Doherty shook off the flimsy attentions of Stuart Armstrong and squared for Jonny to beat Mccarthy. Saints manager Mark Hughes said: “We should have been able to deal with both goals.” Hughes’s clear frustration with his defence may lead to changes for their rearranged EFL Cup tie at Everton on Tuesday.