Wolves are currently on their winter break as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are without a game this weekend, so the squad have switched Wolverhampton for the warmer climate of Marbella this week, and the Wolves captain is hoping to use the trip as the perfect recovery ahead of next Friday’s Premier League visit of Leicester City.
On taking a rest in the winter break
“We’re not thinking about [league positions] at all. We’re just thinking about our next game, which is Leicester in a few weeks, so we need to enjoy the rest now; recover, recuperate and get ourselves ready to go next Friday because then the games will come thick and fast once again.
“It’s important we focus on Leicester, that’s all we’re focused on as a team, and we’ll look forwards to that.
“We need the time, we need to rest as it’s been a hectic schedule over the first-half of the season and over Christmas, so it’s important we get our feet up, rest, relax and look at what the manager wants on the training pitch, so we’re ready for Friday night.”
On warm weather training in Marbella
“We need to make sure we enjoy the break and take full advantage of it. The trips to Marbella are always good and it’s brilliant to spend a bit of time together.
“Hopefully it’s hot and we can enjoy it; enjoy the training and enjoy the sun a little bit, but they’re always great breaks for us and something we enjoy.
“We train and we do things every day, it’s not just a time where you switch off and do nothing, we train every day and get the afternoons to ourselves.
“We’re all grown men, we’re professional footballers and it’s about being professional. We do that all season. But the main goal is making sure we’re ready for that Friday night.”
On the draw with Man United
“We’ve set ourselves standards about what we want to do and how we want to play, and I felt we played some good stuff at times, but so did Man United.
“We needed to be tough, we needed to be well organised, we needed to be ridged in terms of our formation, to do what we needed to do, and I thought we did that.
“We had chances to nick it, but they’d probably say the same thing as well, so I think a draw was quite fair in the end, but we did what we wanted to do, we moved the ball, we counter-attacked at speed, which is important when you come to places like this.
“I thought we played some good stuff at times, but what is important is the clean sheet. To keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford is tough, but we’ll take the point and move forward.”
On the return of Willy Boly
“He’s huge. He’s huge for this club. We said it when he got injured how much of a miss he’d be, and you look at him [against United] and he fit straight back in.
“He’s a fantastic footballer, but he’s a brilliant person as well, to move forward in the team. You’ve seen him come in and he’s done exactly what he was doing before he got injured and he’s a fantastic person to bring back in.
“It wasn’t an easy game to come back into either was it? Old Trafford, against Manchester United, but he was brilliant. He does that every single game and we know exactly what we’re going to get from him, and he’s been a big miss since he’s been injured, so to have him back is huge for this football club.”
On a clean sheet for Rui Patricio
“He’s a great keeper, he’s one of the best in the world for me, in terms of what he’s done for Portugal, what he’s doing in the Premier League now, he’s been brilliant.
“The clean sheet is something we’ve been wanting for a while, but we’ve got full trust in the keepers at this club. They’re brilliant goalkeepers, and you see the way Rui is performing for us at the moment, he’s been brilliant.”
