Wolverhampton Wanderers’ head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted the sides performance at the weekend in the derby clash with Aston Villa wasn’t good enough for long enough as they sent us to our biggest defeat of the season.
Travelling to Villa Park for the game they opened the scoring through Albert Adomah in the seventh minute but we responded well and levelled matters up through Diogo Jota midway through the first period.
Second half though they came out of the blocks and found the net a further three times (James Chester, Lewis Grabban and Birkir Bjarnason) without reply and although Santo was reflective and he acknowledges parts of our play he liked, the overwhelming emotion was disappointment as he knew the side normally played a lot better than that.
Speaking to the Official Website as he met with the media following the match, a disappointed gaffer explained.
‘We were not good enough, we were not focussed enough. The first half was better but the second half, no. The whole game, we were not consistent, we were not solid and how we should be, and mistakes! The goals that we conceded from set-pieces bothers me and I think we should look at that and make a good analysis like we always do. It is clearly poor defending from set-pieces. These tough moments that we have, we have to organise our thoughts. The attitude was there, the boys tried and sometimes you do things that you can avoid.’
He was quick to praise the travelling support for their efforts across the game once again and he was adamant the squad would make up for that disappointment in our midweek clash.
‘I’m not happy but a word to our fans: It’s a long season, the supporters have been fantastic – this moment is tough for everybody and them, especially because it is a midlands derby. We need them and Tuesday is the next step. Let’s look at this game but let’s focus also.’
He added.
‘It’s very fast, it’s a tough competition and on Tuesday we are back again with a game at home, the home factor is important in this competition. There were a lot of teams that played five games in a row at home, that means a lot in this competition and hopefully we can prove that home. At Molineux with our fans – show a better image and win the game – we need to win the game.’
As for the midweek tie against Reading at the Molineux, he knew it was about the team showing more and showing their character to bounce right back at the first time of asking.
‘This is the job we have to do, we have to do a better performance but firstly let’s look at this game – it’s a good moment to judge our character. The most important is the next game and when you lose, we will find solutions. The boys deserve the credit of knowing that days like this can happen bit we have to step forward and bounce back immediately.’
