According to the strapline on the advertisement with which Wolverhampton Wanderers are trying to persuade their supporters to buy a new season ticket, "Tough times do not last". The problem, as other former Premier League clubs such as Leeds United United and Coventry City City can attest, is that they often do.

The manner in which Wolves ended the first half of this game, having conceded a ridiculous, self-inflicted own-goal and lost two players to injury, suggested they may be fated to become the first club to suffer the ignominy of being relegated from the top flight to the third tier in successive seasons for a second time.

That their heads did not drop, however, means there is still hope. With 15 minutes remaining a fine volleyed effort from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake brought them level and two minutes later Kevin Doyle glanced home a header to give them a first home win under the management of Dean Saunders.

"Everything was going wrong, we looked lacking confidence, we weren't sharp and we conceded a calamity goal, the sort you can't believe has happened," said Saunders.

"When we went in at half-time I had a go at everyone. But I've been in this situation as a player and a manager and you have to keep your belief.

"You have to have the strength of character to show for the ball, go in for another chance when you've missed three, take the full-back on. And in the second half my players showed that strength of character."

While there was no questioning Wolves' commitment – the force with which Jack Robinson cleanly tackled Paul Anderson in the 15th minute left the City midfielder unable to continue – their nervousness was obvious from the start.

That it would manifest itself how it did, however, was extraordinary. Rather than hoof a goal-kick hopefully upfield, Wolves' keeper, Carl Ikeme, played the ball short to David Davis.

It was not the cleanest-hit pass and, with a Bristol player rapidly closing him down, the young midfielder had little option other than to return the ball to his goalkeeper. Unable to pick it up, Ikeme seemed to freeze and somehow the ball bobbled between his legs and into the goal.

Nor did the catalogue of disaster end there for Wolves. Within 10 minutes Bakary Sako, their best player this season, pulled up clutching a hamstring, to be followed off in short order by a limping Dave Edwards. Ikeme, somewhat cruelly, was replaced by Dorus de Vries at half-time.

They kept going, though, and in one of those substitutes, Stephen Hunt, found the catalyst they needed. City failed to deal with Hunt's cross and Ebanks-Blake controlled, turned and volleyed powerfully past Tom Heaton.

Two minutes later the stadium erupted as Hunt crossed again from the left and Doyle timed his jump perfectly to glance a header past Heaton. The abandon with which the Ireland striker kicked the corner flag out of the ground showed how much the goal meant to him and could mean to the club.

Had they lost this game, Wolves would have been bottom of the Championship, four points adrift of safety with eight games to play. As it is, they are still in the relegation zone but still in touch.

"You can't play for a big club unless you can play in adversity," said Saunders. "Things couldn't have got much more adverse than they did in the first half but instead of lying down and dying the players changed the game."