Dele Adebola may be entering the twilight years of his career, yet his willingness to put his body on the line remains undiminished.

After watching his side stage a remarkable second-half fightback to stop runaway Championship leaders Wolves in their tracks, City manager Gary Johnson sought to distinguish between those who love playing the game and those who simply love being footballers.

Clearly, Adebola falls into the first category, a fact established beyond doubt during 45 minutes in which he inspired his team's spirited recovery from a two-goal deficit and reminded those inside Ashton Gate that he is still as committed to the cause as the day he first kicked a ball in anger for Crewe Alexandra some 17 years ago.

On a night not for the fainthearted, lesser characters might have been tempted to make themselves inconspicuous when Johnson, in need of an alternative attacking option, called for a volunteer during the half-time interval. Not so City's elder statesman.

In his 34th year, Adebola remains as hungry for the fray as ever and, sure enough, he embraced the swirling gale and driving rain, which rendered this Sky TV game a lottery from start to finish, with the relish of a much younger man.

Making light of conditions which marginalised skilful Slovakian import Peter Styvar during the first half, the Scouser summoned those typically traditional English virtues of brawn and bravery to effectively turn this game on its head.

Adebola had been on the field barely eight minutes when City fell 2-0 behind. There seemed to be no way back.

But City's substitute clearly had other ideas and reduced the arrears himself before creating the equaliser for strike partner Nicky Maynard, whose assured finish restored parity three minutes from time and prevented Mick McCarthy's men from establishing a seven-point advantage over rivals Reading.

Forced to wait patiently in the wings while he recovered from injury and his manager recruited new strikers from elsewhere, Adebola made a compelling case to be included when Johnson comes to select the side to face West rivals Plymouth Argyle at Home Park a week tomorrow.

Clutching the sponsors' man of the match trophy, the much-travelled striker confided: "I know what the manager means when he talks about those who love playing and those who like just being footballers.

"It's something he said when I sat in his office before signing for City a year ago. He's always careful to bring in players with the right character and I suppose he was sounding me out before deciding whether to sign me.

"I'm a massive football fan and I've always loved the game. I love it just as much now as when I first started playing.

"There are some exceptions, but most guys I've come across just want to be out there on the pitch, playing the game and trying to make a difference. I wasn't bothered about the conditions – I just wanted to be out there doing what I'm paid to do."

Adebola added: "It's difficult when you're out injured and you see the manager bringing in other strikers. But there's nothing you can do about that and there's no point in worrying about it.

"I prefer to concentrate on my own game and, hopefully, I've given him (Johnson) something to think about."

For the first hour of a contest played in atrocious conditions, it looked as though City would be quite literally blown away by the Championship pace-setters.

If ever a game was going to be shaped by individual errors then this was it, and Adriano Basso emerged as the fall guy amid the tempest which, at times, threatened to snap the corner flags and extinguish the lights inside Ashton Gate.

Wolves' ninth away win of the season was virtually signed and sealed when the Brazilian keeper gifted the visitors two soft goals either side of half-time.

When he misjudged Michael Kightly's lofted pass and allowed the ball to go over his head, Neill Collins was presented with the kind of scoring opportunity even centre-backs don't pass up.

And things went from bad to worse for Basso, whose misdirected clearance kick enabled Kightly to conjure an equally straightforward goal for fellow winger Matt Jarvis early in the second half.

Fortunately for City, their errant keeper atoned for his earlier mistakes when pulling off startling saves to prevent Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Jarvis scoring goals which would, undoubtedly, have terminated the game as a meaningful contest.

Adebola hauled the home side back into contention when profiting from Maynard's flick to beat Wayne Hennessey from an acute angle on 58 minutes and a rejuvenated City then laid siege to the Wolves goal.

Having demonstrated his eye for goal, the substitute then called upon his considerable experience to unlock the visitors' defence again in the dying moments. When Adebola burst into the penalty area and successfully held off his marker, he could easily have gone for glory himself. Instead, he spotted Maynard in a far more advantageous position and unselfishly presented the youngster with his ninth goal of an increasingly productive campaign.

Adebola reflected: "I could have gone for goal and had a shot myself, but Nicky was in a far better position. I knew that, if I could get the ball to him, he would score and that's what happened.

"He'd helped me score the first goal, so it was only right I should return the favour."