Former England international and now TV pundit Joe Cole says he saw enough at Molineux on Saturday night to suggest Wolves will win enough games between now and the end of the season to secure Premier League survival.
Cole, who played 378 times in the English top flight, was part of the TNT Sport broadcast team at Molineux on Saturday evening, watching Wolves draw 1-1 with Everton thanks to Marshall Munetsi’s first goal for the club.
The point was one gained on the three sides below Vitor Pereira’s team in the table, who were all beaten over the weekend, but for Cole, it was the performance and application which makes him believe the positive results will keep on coming for the Old Gold.
“This Wolves team, I’ve seen enough tonight to know they’re capable of winning games in the Premier League,” he told TNT Sport. “Any point you get at this stage of the season to keep that distance to the teams below you is good.
“I think they’re playing well enough to stay up. Wolves will just keep doing what they’re doing, keep plugging away, and they’ll pick up enough results between now and the end of the season.”
Munetsi’s equaliser cancelled out Jack Harrison’s opener for the Toffees and followed an impressive team move, which saw Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde combine, with the latter sliding in Munetsi for the finish.
The Zimbabwe international, who joined the club from Reims on transfer deadline day, had been forced to wait for that first goal in Old Gold, having come close against all of Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and AFC Bournemouth.
Unfortunately, the 28-year-old’s sixth Wolves outing ended at half-time, as he was replaced by Pablo Sarabia as a precaution, which was a decision Cole believes was correct.
“He’d been busy, he’d been bright. The goal will have done him the world of good.
“I’ve been in that situation where you’re feeling something at half-time and you want to keep on going, because the game would have opened up for him. But I think it was probably a sensible decision.”
Pereira’s side enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession after the break, with both Sarabia and Jorgen Strand Larsen coming close to a winner, and the togetherness between the team and supporters that the head coach requested in his pre-match press conference was evident.
While the second half fizzled out during the latter stages, with both sides seemingly content with a point, Cole says the Wolves supporters are a special breed and will be important during the run-in.
“You saw the last ten minutes of the game nobody was really committing bodies forward. Wolves had more of the possession, but there were no runs forward. I think Wolves will be absolutely buzzing with that point, especially without [Matheus] Cunha in the team.
“They stick with their team [Wolves supporters]. We’ve been at relegation battling teams and the crowd have turned. This mob stick with their team and they just need a bit of direction for next season.”
