TOWN come up against an old foe in the form of John Ward at the Galpharm tomorrow.
And the Cheltenham chief will be desperate to once again put one over on them.
Town got the better of the 55-year-old at Wembley back in May 1995.
That was when Neil Warnock's side beat Ward's Bristol Rovers, Marcus Stewart and all, 2-1 at Wembley to win a place in what is now the Championship.
Town also enjoyed a number of wins over Wolves during the time Ward was assistant manager to Colin Lee, then Dave Jones.
But since then the man who also bossed Bristol City and York has made them pay - and enjoyed two play-off triumphs of his own.
He helped guide the men from Molineux into the Premier League with victory over Sheffield United in 2003, providing revenge over Warnock, the Blades boss.
Then, last season, Ward led Cheltenham to League II success over Grimsby, one of his three league clubs as a player (the others being Lincoln and Watford, where he went on to cut his managerial teeth under the tutelage of Graham Taylor).
In three meetings with Town as Cheltenham manager, Ward, who took over at the Cotswolds club in November 2003, has yet to finish on the losing side.
His team fought out a goalless draw in West Yorkshire soon after his appointment.
Then, at the end of the 2003-04 season, when Town needed to win at Whaddon Road to earn automatic promotion to League I, Ward's men held them 1-1.
Back in September, the home side did better still, claiming a 2-1 victory through Grant McCann and JJ Melligan, Pawel Abbott replying for Town.
McCann is now plying his trade with Barnsley, who splashed out £100,000.
Meanwhile Ward has returned to Wolves to bring in defender Keith Lowe on loan until the end of the season.
The 21-year-old has already had two spells at the club this time around, making nine starts and one substitute outing.
He would have played at home to leaders Scunthorpe on Saturday had the match not fallen victim to waterlogging.
In the game before that, Ward's men drew 1-1 with Crewe, with Wakefield-born midfielder John Finnigan scoring for the second match in a row.
That was their third draw in four, the other game in that run being a 2-0 loss at Northampton on Boxing Day.
Cheltenham are second from bottom, but only seven points adrift of 16th-placed Town, so a win at the Galpharm would be a major plus.
Ward is hopeful Finnigan will be fit again after a calf strain.
And his midfield partner David Bird has responded well to acupuncture on a back problem.
But striker Damian Spencer is ruled out.
He starts a three-match suspension after being red carded in the 2-2 draw at Bradford a fortnight ago.
That could lead to Ward using a 4-5-1 formation for the Galpharm contest.
Town: Glennon, Holdsworth, Adams, Mirfin, McIntosh, McCombe, Taylor-Fletcher, Worthington, Hudson, Young, Brandon, Schofield, Beckett, Booth, McAliskey, Hardy, Hand, Skarz, Rachubka.
Cheltenham: Higgs, Caines, Townsend, Duff, Wilson, Melligan, Finnigan, Gill, Connolly, Odejayi, Yao, Brown, Guinan, Gillespie, Foley, Armstrong, Lowe, Wylde, Bird.
Ref: Mike Thorpe (Norfolk).
