West Bromwich Albion have piled on the misery for struggling Wolves as Peter Odemwingie’s hat-trick inspired a 5-1 thrashing of their local rivals in the ‘Black Country’ derby at Molineux.

Roy Hodgson’s team took the lead in the 34th minute when Nigerian striker Odemwingie sent in a tame shot from the edge of the area which trickled through goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey’s weak attempted save.

Wolves equalised against the run of play through Scotland forward Steven Fletcher, who fired home from just inside the area on the stroke of half-time.

Another Hennessey mistake allowed Albion to regain the advantage in the 64th minute.

After Wolves failed to clear a corner, Albion defender Jonas Olsson fired goalwards and Hennessy should have saved easily. Instead he allowed the shot to squirm over the line with Jamie O’Hara slightly obstructing his view.

Odemwingie got the third in the 77th minute when he hooked in from close-range and former Wolves midfielder Keith Andrews rubbed salt into the wounds when his shot deflected home in the 85th minute.

Odemwingie sealed Albion’s biggest win at their hated rivals’ home since 1962 as he finished off a flowing counter-attack in the 88th minute on Sunday.

Albion are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, while Wolves slump into the relegation zone, below 17th placed Blackburn on goal difference.

“It’s my first hat-trick in the Premier League, a very tough league to score in, so I’m very happy about that,” Odemwingie said.

“And the extra bonus was that it was in the black country derby. We know this game means a lot to our fans so we’re very delighted with winning and scoring lots of goals.”