Ethan Ebanks-Landell on his Wolves upbringing, memorable goals & burning EFL ambitions

And two of those five came against teams from Nottingham.

Firstly, in an away game at Notts County, on his full league debut for Wolves. And then, with a nod to the forthcoming Monday Night Football, at home to Nottingham Forest.

However, call if a sense of painful realism, a quest for high standards, even plain old professionalism, but remind Ebanks-Landell of those particular goals, and delight is not the only emotion that returns.

“My Dad’s friend came to that Notts County game, and when he saw my celebration he was asking people if I had ever scored before – and the answer was no!” he explains.

“But I needed to score, because I had an absolute nightmare of a game, so I had to do something positive.

“I still remember the Forest goal as well.

“Jordan Graham put it on a sixpence from a free kick and I headed it in, but then I lost my man for their equaliser.

“I always remember that, probably more than the goal itself!”

Ebanks-Landell, although currently injured, is still, at 31, enjoying the challenge of playing as much as ever, with Rochdale, currently sixth in the National League with ambitions of a return to the Football League. EEL back to the EFL.

That commitment to high standards remains as integral as ever, and perhaps stems back to the disciplined upbringing and grounding he received having emerged through Wolves Academy from the age of just eight.

Not to mention having a father, Michael, who was a sports professional in the world of basketball.

Ebanks-Landell actually landed his Wolves Academy scholarship due to brother Andre Landell, a striker, with whom he was then fortunate to spend so many years occupying the same team at youth level.

“Andre had actually got scouted at a Wolves camp we went to every summer, and I didn’t, but then my Dad took me along to watch him,” Ebanks-Landell recalls.

“Then Tony Lacey (Head of Wolves Academy Recruitment) saw me kicking a ball against a fence and spoke to my Dad and asked him to take me along the next week.

“I had a couple of weeks trial and then got signed up, starting out with the Under-9s and going all the way through the Academy.

“Those youth teams days were the best, learning your trade, even through the bad times as well as the good.

“And getting to do it all in the same age group as my brother, my best friend, made it extra special.

“It was funny because we always knew who had played better out of the two of us, because the one that hadn’t, would sit in the front seat on the way home so my Dad could talk them through everything that had happened!

“He also used to take us to the park and find some old bottles and have us dribbling through them to improve our skills.

“I will always remember, though, when I got older, watching my Dad play football, and he was so bad!  I often think we did amazing to get to where we did, given how bad he was!

“But basketball was his sport, and the professionalism and pedigree which he had in that, including representing England, definitely rubbed off on us and helped us, because he knew what it took to try and achieve something in sport.”

Aside from the family angle, Ebanks-Landell built up so many strong friendships across all those years coming through the ranks, and can effortlessly reel off the names of others who ultimately made the grade, as well as those who didn’t.