Wolves made a huge leap towards Premier League safety with a crushing victory over fellow strugglers West Ham.
The visitors went close when Kevin Foley hit the bar and took the lead when a scuffed James Tomkins pass-back fell to Kevin Doyle who fired home.
David Jones set up Ronald Zubar to fire in and then passed to Matthew Jarvis who blasted in for a fine third.
Scott Parker hit a post for West Ham in the first half, leaving Guillermo Franco to chip in a late consolation.
Despite a spirited fightback in the closing stages, the Hammers overall lacked ideas and confidence and boss Gianfranco Zola will be very concerned as he prepares for the final seven games currently three points away from the drop zone.
After a weekend dominated by talk of an invigorated title race, Tuesday night saw the teams at the other end of the Premier League taking centre stage.
West Ham, in 17th spot, were facing the team one place above them with Zola calling the clash "a massive six pointer" as he desperately sought to avoid a fifth successive league defeat.
Mick McCarthy's pre-match motivational speech to his players are likely to have pointed towards their opponents recalling star players after a rested few days with Zola having 'targeted' Wolves.
The Italian boss did indeed bring back fit-again skipper Parker, along with two strikers who did not start in the 2-0 loss at Arsenal, Carlton Cole and Benni McCarthy, but it was the visitors who ripped open a very nervous defence inside seven minutes.
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