Bakary Sako named Wolves' Player of the Season

The £3m French left-winger, who turned 25 today and is about to become a father, topped the fans' poll to claim the award, beating Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Kevin Doyle and Björn Sigurdarson for the award.

Sako, who succeeds keeper Wayne Hennessey in winning the award, has scored 10 goals in 37 appearances since joining for £3m from St Etienne last summer.

He was an ever-present in the league until he tore his hamstring in the 2-1 win over Bristol City on March 16.

The injury was expected to have ended his season, but with Wolves' need desperate, the former France Under-21 international has been rushed back into full training and is battling to be involved in tomorrow's crucial game with Burnley.

Sako said: "I'm very pleased to have won this award and want to say thanks to all the supporters.

"Even when we've been in trouble, they've always supported us and I want to say thanks for that from all the team.

"It's now up to us to get the results needed in the last two games to stay in the league."

Of the other contenders, Ebanks-Blake is Wolves' 15-goal top scorer, Doyle has taken over the captaincy and scored four in the last seven to equal his nine-goal best tally at the club, while Sigurdarson is the club's third top scorer with five.

Keeper Carl Ikeme was expected to figure heavily in the running after performing largely impressively in his 38 league games.

But his season ended when he broke his hand punching the tactics board during half-time of the Bristol City game after conceding an own goal howler following a back-pass from David Davis, and he was outside the top four.

Wolves won't reveal the share of the vote Sako received or how many voted for the award, which is mainly conducted online.

And given the relegation crisis and the importance of tomorrow's game with Burnley, there are no current plans to present the award to Sako at Molineux.

But with the visit of the Clarets bringing down the curtain on the home campaign, the club say the players want to stay on the pitch at full-time to applaud the fans for their support. Fans who want to stay are asked to remain in their seats.