Three stress-free seasons of relative success under shrink Bill Stevens ended abruptly last summer with the shock axing of the popular therapist.

Since then, the Molineux club have hit the skids and are now seen by many as the top-flight’s basket case.

And stand-in skipper Henry cannot help thinking the decision to get rid of the one man who brought some sanity to Molineux was MENTAL!

Defeat today at Sunderland would leave Wolves nine points from safety with four games left.

Henry said: “We had a club psychologist for almost three years and he was let go in the summer.

“Bill came in halfway through the Championship-winning season of 2009 when we were promoted to the Premier League.

“I was a sceptic before he came in but now I’m convinced these things do matter.

“Bill definitely helped a lot of our players on and off the field. He helped us focus on our football.

“There are always lots of distractions going on around a football club.

“Players are only human, you have family matters to deal with, something is always going on.

“His job was to give everyone belief in themselves. The mental side of the game is huge and Bill would help players forget about any other problems and concentrate 100 per cent on football.

“He wasn’t a footballing man and didn’t come from a footballing background.

“It was all about the psychology and putting other distractions to one side. He helped me and Matt Jarvis a lot.

“We had one-on-one sessions with him on a regular basis. I think his work was underestimated.

“It’s just another factor I think has had an effect on us this season.

“He was let go and never replaced. I don’t know what the idea was.

“The problem with psychologists is their work isn’t always evidence-based.

“If you’re a physio, you heal someone’s broken leg and everyone sees it. But no one can see confidence.

“Confidence is a huge part of the game. Bill was good at his job and if he helped two or three players, then it helped the team.”

Cynics will say Henry is just using Stevens’ dismissal as a poor excuse for Wolves’ plight.

But the midfielder added: “I’m not saying this now because we’re bottom. I’ve felt bad about this from the start. We are where we are because we’re not good enough.

“I can accept that. What I don’t accept is that we’re already down.

“Every time the league table comes on TV I don’t want to see it — it’s too embarrassing.

“There are five games left and we must have the attitude we can win some and salvage something.

“If not, we must go down fighting.”