"Do we want to be remembered for fighting until the end of the season or do we want to be remembered for being cowards?" Matt Doherty laid it on the line at Wolves with relegation from the Premier League inevitable. The question now is - will they become the worst team in top flight history?

Derby's record low points total of 11 from 2007-08 is under serious threat after Wolves' 10th straight defeat and a 15th loss in 17 games. The unwanted records are mounting up - and there is no evidence at present to suggest Rob Edwards' side will be able to stop the slide. Saturday's limp 2-0 defeat by Brentford was another low - perhaps the lowest - in a season which has lurched from crisis to crisis.

Bottom at Christmas with little hope, Wolves need a miracle. Wolves' two points are the joint-fewest a team has had at Christmas in Premier League history, with Sheffield United in 2020-21. Yet that season started later due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning the Blades had only played 14 games by then compared to Wolves' 17. Wolves' 14-point gap from safety is also the biggest at Christmas in the Premier League, with Sunderland having been 11 adrift in 2005-06.

It continues to get worse for Edwards' side, who have the worst record of any team in Europe's top 14 divisions. Only Paralimni with one point in Cyprus (in the 15th-ranked league) have fewer. Wolves have also equalled the longest Premier League winless start (17) which Sheffield United set in 2020-21.

After the defeat by Fulham on 1 November, a result and performance which spelled the end for boss Vitor Pereira, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone called it "embarrassing". Given the context now - further into the season under a new manager, at home and desperate for a win - Saturday's defeat is the new low of the campaign.

The toxicity directed towards Jeff Shi had also disappeared with the executive chairman's departure and there was a chance for Molineux to be united. Yet the Wolves players walked off to a virtually empty stadium and chants of "you're not fit to wear the shirt" having echoed around during the game.

"This is the worst I've felt in a long time," said defender Doherty. "You can see the stadium is nearly empty at the end. It's not full at the start. We are just lacking the belief that we can win the game. We're scared to win the game almost. We're nervous about going ahead in the game and trying to hold on."

Edwards has lost all of his six games since walking away from Middlesbrough's Championship promotion challenge last month. While performances at Aston Villa and Arsenal gave him something to cling to, the bottom line is Wolves are just not good enough.

"You can't give up," said Edwards. "I said [after the game] 'I'm standing in front of you now, I'm going to fight and I know all the staff are with me and are going to fight and I need all of the lads to come together and help each other and fight as well'. We need to stand up now. Things can be really, really difficult and I know it will already look like that now.

Speaking to the players at the end I asked them 'what do you want to do?' One or two spoke, they know they need to work, they know we can't make those basic errors, those same mistakes that are losing us games. No-one is doing anything on purpose, there is an effort there, they are trying.

Yet Edwards had to defend Jorgen Strand Larsen after fans turned on the striker - the subject of a £55m bid from Newcastle in the summer - following his late penalty miss. He added: "Over the years people love someone who can come back and turn things around. People will appreciate if they see the total commitment and effort. He can, he's a good enough player. It will take some time, he is trying really hard and he hasn't given up."

Edwards has projected positivity, combined with realism, in his public comments - but it is the same privately. The coaching staff are seeing the improvements on the training ground they want, believing players are getting fitter and becoming braver on the ball - but that is not being shown in games.

They had a good week of training before a last-minute defeat at Arsenal and it was the case again this week, with Edwards drilling in his message and methods. He has lamented how the squad have forgotten the basics - running, pressing, positional intelligence - and believes the fundamentals in football are not properly coached any more.

Edwards will look to start the rebuild in January, a process Wolves must embrace but also handle with care. They need to get a head start on the summer but cannot look like they are surrendering to relegation months before the end of the season. Players will also have their own agendas. Joao Gomes, who has not played for Brazil since March, will have hopes of a World Cup spot, as will South Korea's Hwang Hee-chan - who has had limited game time in the past two months.

Homegrown players will be targeted - Wolves have currently filled their non-homegrown quota - and Premier League know-how sought after a summer where the club's executives admitted they got the window wrong. Edwards knows, though, that Wolves' position will leave some reluctant to join with the spectre of the Championship looming.

Doherty said: "It has to be [a good transfer window]. We need something, whether that is in the loan market or whatever. We are going to need some fresh energy, I'm not going to say which positions but we need something... We are going to need everyone to find the level of last season. We were in a tough spot this time last year as well but obviously this is a lot worse."