70 mins: It’s decently worked around by Wolves, with Doyle involved straight away, but Lopez skews his cross and the ball lands on the top of Toth’s net, harmlessly enough.

Tension is beginning to set in around the stands at Molineux. The home side have 20 minutes plus stoppage time to rectify this situation.

68 mins: Both teams make double substitutions.

Tommy Doyle and Jackson Tchatchoua are the latest duo to be thrown on by Peixoto – Rodrigo Gomes and Trippier are the men they replace.

Ohashi and Fevrier are on for Blackburn, replacing Afolayan and Cantwell.

67 mins: One of Trippier’s final acts before being substituted is to hook in a cross that Toti Gomes can only tamely head down at Toth, who gathers easily.

65 mins: Dapo Afolayan arrived at Blackburn from St Pauli in January and had a quiet spell for the club at the back end of last season. He’s enjoying a stellar evening so far here, though, switching flanks and making himself difficult for Wolves to pick up.

64 mins: Cantwell squanders a good chance to pop the ball into the path of Afolayan, who again had found space in the Wolves box. Blackburn are still generating chances and half-chances, which will delight their manager.

62 mins: No surprise that Blackburn are now content to sit in their shape, pressing less often, asking Wolves to come and break them down.

It seems like a long time for them to purely defend, so they’ll have to retain that bit of bite on the counterattack, as the referee waves away appeals for a penalty when Jiménez hits the deck.

60 mins: The Wolves fans are in fine voice once again, because Jiménez is being ushered on by his manager. It’s his first appearance for the club since 2023 when he left for Fulham. Tommy Doyle is also coming on for the home side, though not yet it seems.

Mané has been withdrawn by Peixoto.

57 mins: Munetsi has been sharp all evening and wins a corner when his shot is deflected. Can the hosts strike back?

Here comes Sam Morsy for his Blackburn debut, replacing Adam Forshaw. Morsy is from Wolverhampton and was released by them as a youngster, before going to to represent Middlesbrough, Ipswich and others.

55 mins: Ryan Alebiosu is wreaking yet more havoc from the right-back position for Blackburn. His overlapping runs and exchanges with Morishita have been dangerous, making it a tricky night for Wolves left-back Møller Wolfe.

53 mins: Mané dances past Montgomery and wants a free-kick on the edge of the box, but instead is shown a yellow card for diving – which he cannot believe.

It probably wasn’t a foul but that seems a tad harsh, it wasn’t a theatrical dive in the typical sense.

52 mins: This wasn’t in the script for the 30,000 or so Wolves fans packed into Molinuex on opening night …

51 mins: Mowbray said before kick-off that he’d picked Gudjohnsen for his goalscoring instinct between the sticks, as someone he could rely on to net those poachers’ goals. He has just done exactly that and the Blackburn fans are singing his name.

48 mins: The pressing is still pretty high-intensity from Blackburn, though it’s not always brilliantly co-ordinated and there are a few gaps between the lines that Wolves should exploit.

Another good breakaway, however, brings a chance for Afolayan, whose powerful effort is tipped over the bar by Bentley. I think that needed saving, you know.

46 mins: No sign of Jiménez yet, by the way. To be fair, Wolves showed towards the end of that second half they don’t necessarily need him to score goals against this Blackburn team.

Back under way. Let’s do this second half thing.

How long does Peixoto wait before introducing Raúl Jiménez? Straight away for the second half? Surely no longer than an hour? We’ll wait and see. It’s guaranteed to get the crowd going when the Mexican does appear.

A penny for César Peixoto’s thoughts, then, after watching his team for the first time in the Championship. Whether it’s a far cry from managing Gil Vicente in Portugal only he can say, really, but I’m sure he was under no illusions about the size of his task in one of Europe’s most physical and competitive leagues.

He’ll be happy with how his team grew into that half after a slightly nervy start tonight. And boy does he have some talent at his disposal. Lopez and Munetsi have probably been the best two players on the pitch, linking up delightfully for the opening goal.

As for Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn, they were as committed and solid as you would expect from a Mowbray side, but also played some nice football at times. You would not say the current scoreline flatters them at all, though you wonder whether Wolves’ superior strength from the bench might take its toll in the second half.

HT: Wolves 1-1 Blackburn.

A very watchable half of football opens the EFL season at Molineux. Blackburn started brightly, Wolves took the lead, Blackburn hit back, then the home side dominated without breaking through … all of which leaves us level at the break. An intriguing second 45 minutes is to come, you suspect.

I’m going to grab a quick drink.

We’ll have just the one minute of stoppage time.

45 mins: Blackburn are doing exactly what they need to do, just quietening the crowd down with another spell on the ball, slowing the tempo.

Alebiosu does get a cross in but Morishita’s foul stops the momentum. By the way, Forshaw and Cantwell have been booked for Blackburn, so that’s three visiting players in the referee’s notebook already.

42 mins: Nope! Wolves win it back and they’re unlucky not to get a big chance to score. Munetsi wasn’t quite in the right place after a good run from Armstrong, with Blackburn wobbling a touch.

41 mins: There are some ironic cheers from the Blackburn fans as their side finally win a free-kick thanks to more good play from Morishita. A quieter, and welcome, period of posssession follows for the visitors – who may sense a chance to fashion something before the break …

It’s Wolves who are now in charge as we get closer to half-time. Blackburn would bite your hand off to go in level at 1-1. The home crowd sense a chance to snatch the lead back, though.

Mané curls an excellent effort over from outside the box.

Five minutes or so, plus stoppage time, left in the first half.

38 mins: I’ll admit to not being too familiar with the work of Fer López before tonight. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Celta Vigo, having been signed from Celta in 2025.

The Spanish playmaker has been excellent so far, and he goes close with a potshot from 25 yards or so, just off target.

35 mins: Pickering has picked up the game’s first booking, trying to stay in touch with Rodrigo Gomes he was spotted tugging back the winger’s old gold shirt.

Trippier’s free-kick from deep on the right flank isn’t cleared at the first opportunity but Mané – who has been oddly quiet – puts in a poor cross from the other side.

33 mins: Lopez is starting the run the game from his No 10 position now, drifting into channels and linking the play. Alebiosu takes no chances, poking a dangerous cross away for a corner.

Toth (just about) collects the resulting corner from Trippier and Blackburn can breathe again.

32 mins: A smart turn from Munetsi, bringing the ball down, allows it to run into the path of Fer Lopez, whose shot is dragged wide of Toth’s goal.

31 mins: Wolves are looking to restore their lead in double quick-time here and they’ve got a first corner of the game. No surprise that Trippier is taking … although his first delivery is poor and Blackburn can shuttle it out of play.

Well, a couple of quick goals and this has become rather fun quite quickly, as hoped! Tony Mowbray will be delighted with that response from his side, who were unfortunate to be 1-0 down in the first place.

26 mins: Fair play to Blackburn. It’s good stuff between Alebiosu and Morishita again on the right flank and they’ve won their side a corner.

An email has arrived from Pete Mumola re: Wolves fans’ appetite for the Championship:

I attended a match in Molineux in 2015 and chatted up some Wolves fans who fondly remembered even their campaign in League One as a chance to see new grounds and largely batter opponents. They may not have it so easy this campaign but after the last few seasons’ struggles, I could see some enthusiasm to playing the role of favourites.

23 mins: Wolves are looking to push on here. Armstrong is getting involved, dropping deep from his position at centre-forward, so can Blackburn stand firm and keep a foothold in the game?

Marshall Munetsi has a pretty decent scoring record for a player sometimes described as a defensive midfielder. I’d politely suggest he should be considered a little more attacking than that. He scored 21 in less than 150 games for Reims.

20 mins: I was just about to write about how Wolves won’t have anything easy. But then the Blackburn defence was carved open in the space of two passes. Levels.

17 mins: I think we’re seeing that César Peixoto’s Wolves are going to be fairly patient in possession … and they’re going to have to be that way against stubborn opponents like Blackburn.

Alebiosu breaks down the right and Morishita scuffs a shot, which Bentley can easily save.

15 mins: Forshaw picked out Morishita with a lovely ball down the line there, and Blackburn probably should have mustered more from that opening.

At the other end, Mané gets his first crossing opportunity but it’s a bit too deep.

13 mins: Blackburn are conceding A LOT of free-kicks in the Wolves half with aggressive challenges as they attempt to press. It’s disrupting Wolves’ rhythm but at the same time allowing the hosts to get up the pitch.

Very scrappy at the moment, this one.

11 mins: Alebiosu is again an outlet on the right and is able to cross deep into the box, where Afolayan wins the header. No power on that and it’s harmlessly over the crossbar in the end. But not bad from Blackburn.

9 mins: Wolves have wrestled control of the possession but Blackburn are looking to press and break quickly when they can. Mowbray will be happy with this start from his charges, super solid, no frills.

8 mins: Raul Jiménez being the main man for Mexico at a home World Cup to sitting on the bench for a Championship club seems something of a fall from grace … mind you he is returning to Wolves as a hero. And his name is being heartily sung as he watches the action right now.

Quiet start on the pitch, loud off it.

5 mins: The linkup between Alebiosu and Morishita on the Blackburn right looks like it could be a dangerous one. They were among Rovers’ strongest performers last season and the club will do well to hold onto them by the time the summer window closes.

3 mins: Blackburn fans have good memories – they’re booing Kieran Trippier because he once donned the colours of Burnley, their Lancashire rivals. He last played for them in 2015.

2 mins: It looks like a sold-out crowd at Molineux is packed in for this one. Plenty of appetite for second tier football, then, despite the relegation.

Both teams just feeling each other out in the early knockings. Möller Wolfe is brought down by Montgomery on the hosts’ left.

The teams are out, the flames are sky-bound and the old gold flags are out in force. Championship football returns to Molineux for the first time since 2018.

Time for pre-match handshakes, a bit of crowd-rousing and then we’ll be under way.

The 2025-26 EFL season is five minutes from getting started. We are standing on football’s equivalent of the start line at the London Marathon … a testing 46 games await, many twists and turns to come.

Mowbray tells Sky Sports that Blackburn are “going to have to punch above their weight” this season and that his team are looking to make the game “tight” and create a difficult evening for Wolves, who he notes haven’t won many games of football in the past year, albeit in a different division.

Andri Gudjohnsen for Yuki Ohashi was his toughest selection call tonight and he explains that “confidence” was the main reason for selecting the Icelandic international.

Fairly pleased with a score of 13/16 in that quiz.

On an entirely different note, how many fans en route to Molineux jumped out of their skin as a result of that government alert everyone got?! So loud.

Less than half an hour until KO. A few more Championship plugs.

A big EFL preview podcast:

A quiz:

And the full official written preview, listing this year’s runners and riders:

Formation-wise, a few outlets have Wolves listed in a 4-2-3-1, rather than the 3-4-2-1 I outlined earlier on. Looks like Rodrigo Gomes could play as a genuine winger rather than a wing-back.

Wolves are also without Hwang Hee-Chan, Sasa Kalajdzic, Hugo Bueno and Ladislav Krejci for a variety of reasons. Damn, they’ve got a strong squad for the Championship, even if a couple of the aforementioned depart.

I must plug a number of our other Championship-related pieces, before we get closer to kick off.

Here’s one, as Ben Fisher spoke to Kieran Trippier about dropping down to the second tier and his new challenge at Wolves.

I’m not ashamed to go to the Championship because I played in it for many years. I had a good chat with Eddie Howe and made my decision at the end of the season that I wanted to try something new. There were a few [interested] clubs but it was important for me that I was close to my children.

You wonder if Tony Mowbray might equate his current squad, Forrest Gump-style, to a bag of Revels. He is seemingly a world expert on the chocolate, according to this video which has been doing the rounds this week.

It says much about Blackburn’s summer that their starting lineup tonight includes zero new signings. Sam Morsy and Jayden Fevrier have arrived but both start on the bench tonight, while the only other summer addition, Moussa Baradji, is among those out injured.

A shameless self-plug here, but Blackburn were one of the clubs I wrote about earlier this week when assessing the Championship scene before tonight’s curtain-raiser, and why they’re among the clubs not feeling the new season buzz so much.