The wing-back broke the deadlock with 18 minutes on the clock, tapping in Pedro Neto’s low cross from six-yards out to put Wolves in front in a league match for the first time this season. Doherty believes scoring first was all important, as his side are difficult to beat once they’ve taken the lead.
On first league win of the season
“It was a good win. I felt they had a lot of possession at times but didn’t really penetrate us that much, we defended really well and then went ahead.
“The back three were immense today, all of them, especially Boly aside me, he just wins absolutely everything and takes it off people one-v-ones, nobody can get round him. It’s good that we were able to keep the clean sheet.
“It was great to get the first league win, especially at home in front of another packed out crowd. It’s nice to get the first win on the board, even though it’s taken a bit longer than we would have expected.
“This result has brought us a bit of relief, obviously we would’ve wanted it to come earlier than it has, because the longer that it doesn’t happen you start to get itchy. But I felt we played well today and thoroughly deserved to win.”
On taking the lead for the first time
“When we go ahead in games, we’re pretty good. That’s kind of what we do, we like to get ahead in the game and our record when we go ahead is pretty exceptional.
“That’s been the problem so far this season – we’ve not gone ahead in games, so when we do, we’re clinical and we’ve done it again today.”
On putting Wolves ahead
“Just breaking into the box like that is something I like to do, that’s what I’m encouraged to do by the manager and the staff, so I guess that type of goal is the type I normally score.
“Adama was out wide and the way we kind of play is break inside, anticipate something happening on the left and get across the box. Fortunately enough, it’s kind of worked out.
“Playing in this position you kind of have to do both sides of it, you’ve got to defend the back post, but get in at the back post the other end. The way we played today allowed me to get into the box, and Pedro picked out a great little cross and I couldn’t miss.”
On building on the three points
“It’s obviously not been the start we would have liked, but it’s only the start and there’s a long way to go. If you’re going to have a dip in results, it’s probably better to get it at the start.
“I hope it can be the springboard we need. We want to finish as high as we can, we want to try and improve on last season.
“The games we’ve got coming up this week are what you play football for – to play in these big games in Europe for the first time, we’re all experiencing something new, and then we’ve got the big game against Man City next week.
“This result will give us a bit more confidence going into Thursday, and then let’s see how we get on before the weekend.”
