The captain called for a reaction after Monday’s reverse to West Ham United, and it came in the form of a solid, compact performance, which saw the group rally after VAR disappointment to come away with the win. The strike was Traore’s first in the Premier League this season and, while delighted with the goal, his captain says the Spaniard’s game is about much more than just goals and assists.
On a big goal from Traore
“It was massive for us. An incredible finish. He’s a fantastic player, we know what he brings to us, he does that all the time in training, and we see what he brings us every single week. He’s fantastic.
“He deserved his goal, he deserved it all season, a lot of people look at goals and assists, but he brings so much more to our football club than that. He smashed it into the top corner and it was a brilliant way to end it for us.”
Starting the weekend the right way 👌 pic.twitter.com/lg0aAbVQAH
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 10, 2021
On improving on Monday’s showing
“We’re the first to look at ourselves when things have gone wrong and we’re the first to look at ourselves when things go right. We had a plan coming into the game, it was important to stay in the game as long as possible after what went on in the game against West Ham. We spoke about it afterwards and said it wasn’t good enough, and that we needed to improve. I think we did that.
“We came here, knowing we had to get a good result, after West Ham, and we did that, it didn’t matter how we did it – to come away with three points is all that mattered to us today.
“We stuck in there. It was tough second-half, I thought first-half was a little bit more us, but I don’t think we managed it well enough in the second-half, we tried to press a bit higher, but we stuck in there and went away with three points, and we’re made up.”
On overcoming VAR controversy
“We’re lucky we’re standing here with a win because it would have been a massive talking point. I don’t think it should mask over it to be honest, I’ve spoken about offsides enough in my time, it’s annoying, it’s frustrating, it’s hard to take, and what made it worse was when the picture came on the screen.
“I feel sorry for Jon [Moss], and referees and officials because I was asking him who was offside and he didn’t know. It’s tough, but I don’t think it’s right it’s happened, and we’re just lucky we’ve got three points.
“The good thing was that we came in for half-time. I think it would have been harder if we had five, ten, 15 minutes left because it can pull you out of the game – you’ve got be mentally strong enough to stay in the game in those situations.
“We spoke at half-time about keeping our heads focused, moving forward, and going again to try and get a goal. Luckily we did it at the end. It’s not just us it’s happening to, it’s happening to every club, and everyone has gripes with it, but these are the rules.”
Last-minute winners 😆 pic.twitter.com/Sp6Zr9To7B
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 9, 2021
On Neto going off injured
“Pedro is a fantastic player for us, we know what he brings to this team, he’s a fantastic talent and a brilliant person, and we hope he’s going to be alright because we’ve had a few injuries this season, like all teams have, it’s no sort of excuse, but it’s disappointing for us and we want to make sure he’s OK.
“He had to come off because he was feeling his knee, he’s been feeling it for a few weeks and played on it, which is fantastic from his point of view, it shows his character, but he’s a massive player for us and we just hope he’s alright.
“We all have little niggles and he’s felt it in the game, but he’s the sort of character who wants to play through everything, every football player plays through things, so we just hope he’s OK.”
