JODY Craddock might have taken slightly longer to floor Wanderers than the 76 seconds it took Bolton’s own Amir Khan to dismantle Dimitriy Salita, but the end result was just as devastating.

For after a week spent analysing Wolves’ prowess from set pieces, Gary Megson’s plans were sent crashing to the mat inside four minutes — albeit with the considerable help of a linesman.

Craddock and Kevin Doyle were so far ahead of the last defender after Christophe Berra flicked on Nenad Milijas’s free-kick, it was hard to believe anyone in the ground couldn’t have seen they were offside.

After being put on their haunches by a schoolboy error, the Whites needed to produce a response. And despite throwing plenty of punches, they were unable to muster a telling blow until the final 20 minutes by which time Serbian Milijas had doubled his side’s advantage.

It is often said that managers find out more about their squad after a defeat, and in the last few weeks, Megson might well have found out a few things he didn’t want to.

The manager revealed after the game that three or four of his players were currently not delivering what he expects, and hinted that there had been a disagreement with one player in particular over an incident in the build-up to Craddock’s early goal.

Coupled with his remarks from a couple of weeks ago about fringe players causing problems — and it is clear that the Wanderers boss has some repair work to do in his own camp to make sure things run better on the pitch.

Last week’s point at Fulham proved that the squad have the required togetherness and stomach for a fight, and final stages of this game at least showed they have enough in the drawer to create chances. But something else is clearly missing.

While Megson is convinced he has the players and the know-how to do just that, and reverse his side’s slide down the table, the number of people who agree with him is dwindling with each passing week.

Wolves had started the match bottom of the table after Portsmouth’s lunchtime victory over Burnley, and still smarting from a derby defeat against Birmingham last weekend.

So it was to be expected that they would make a fast start — and they had already put Wanderers on the canvass once by the end of the first round.

Craddock’s fourth goal in five games was in itself a great finish, as the centre half volleyed Berra’s flick on past Jussi Jaaskelainen from six yards out. And the psychological impact it had on both sides was immeasurable.

With their tails up, Wolves could have extended their lead on a few occasions inside the next 25 minutes.

Gary Cahill produced a fine last-ditch tackle to block Sylvain Ebanks-Blake’s goalbound effort and Ricardo Gardner scrambled one off the line from Berra, who had got to Matt Jarvis’s corner ahead of Andy O’Brien.

Richard Stearman also missed a gilt-edged chance from eight yards out after another corner from Jarvis found him unmarked at the far post.

Wanderers finally got on the offensive at the end of the half, when Tamir Cohen drove through the middle before feeding Chung-Yong Lee on the right and he beat Stephen Ward before squaring for Ivan Klasnic, who fired disappointingly over the crossbar.

On another day the Croatia international might have scored a hatful. He certainly looks like the Whtes’ most effective attacking option, but in the week his manager described him as one of the best finishers in the Premier League, it was sod’s law that he failed to convert any of the several chances that fell his way.

Just as Wanderers seemed to be finding their bearings, a bolt from the blue from Wolves’ £2.6million midfielder Milijas served as a second killer blow.

The Serbian international picked up the ball 35 yards out before driving a brilliant left-footed shot past Jaaskelainen’s despairing dive to send the Molineux crowd into raptures.

At this point, the anti-Megson chants started to gather momentum, started first by the home supporters — who still remember vividly his time at West Brom — and swiftly followed by the travelling fans.

It is nothing that the Whites boss has not heard before but oddly, the discontent actually stirred the visitors into action. Chung-Yong was the catalyst for Wanderers going forward, his energy and guile the chief positive Megson will take from his 90 minutes at Molineux.

Ward denied Cohen with a magnificent saving tackle and Taylor saw a low shot saved by Marcus Hahnemann at his near post.

Kevin Doyle nearly caught O’Brien napping to score a third for Wolves, his low shot blocked by Jaaskelainen, but otherwise it was all Wanderers as they gambled on another attacker, bringing on Johan Elmander for Jlloyd Samuel.

The Swede’s arrival brought almost instant dividends. A minute after he had combined with Klasnic to bring another brilliant save out of Hahnemann, he was celebrating himself after bundling home Taylor’s corner with 11 minutes left to go.

Wolves’ nerves were jangling — but Hahnemann remained defiant in the final stages, racing off his line to stifle another effort from Klasnic and claiming a number of crosses that were piled into the penalty box.

Even when something did drop for Wanderers, as it did for McCann with two minutes to go, the midfielder rushed his chance to slice wide of the post.

Two minutes into added time, Taylor had a free-kick in an identical position to Milijas, delivering a ball with equal accuracy. Wolves’ entire back line pushed to the edge of the box, leaving four Whites’ men offside. Only this time the linesman raised his flag.