Wolves travel to King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon to take on Leicester City, in a repeat of the side’s opening away fixture from last season, and this time the match will have the added influence of a video assistant referee. But the Wolves head coach insists the use of VAR will not change what makes the Premier League special.
On the introduction of VAR
“All of the managers have been in the Premier League meetings, so we’re clear about the approach of the VAR and I’m confident.
"One of the things I am glad to hear is when those responsible for the VAR say that they don’t want to change what is the temple of the game – it’s so good what we have in the Premier League and nothing can change that. I’m truly confident that everything is going to be OK.
“The referees in the Premier League talk to the players, they allow the players to have dialogue and there’s no better thing than that.
“Speak, explain and the players are OK, so of course, everything is going to be new in some aspects but I’m confident that the managers and the players are clear and they’re OK.”
On the challenge of Leicester
“It will be tough, very tough. They have a fantastic group of players, a very good manager and we expect a very tough game. But knowing your opponent, knowing their weakness and their strengths is the best thing that you can do.
“We will prepare ourselves in the best way but it’s going to be tough. It’s a big challenge for us.
“We played them at the beginning of last season, we had moments that we could have scored and then we scored an own goal, but that is over, and football has shown to me that history never repeats, so it’s going to be a new challenge and a new game.”
On preparing for the Premier League
“We’ve had a good pre-season, but it’s been a different approach because we’ve had a lot of travelling.
“But the most important thing is the players, the way they believe, the way they respect themselves, the way they work so hard – this is fantastic. It’s delightful for coaches like us to have these great men.
“We’ve prepared for the season in a different way, but we believe that the way we’ve prepared is to take advantage of the competition.
“We’ve prepared ourselves for what is coming on Sunday and we want to be ready every single game that we have in front of us.”
