A Sunday afternoon trip to Turf Moor awaits, a ground Wolves have notoriously struggled at recently, and they’ll meet a Burnley side showing signs of life in their bid to avoid the drop. With the stakes high in both camps, an entertaining battle appears on the cards, and Lage is feeling hungry for the top seven heading into the home straight in the Premier League.
On hunting down Europe
“We are in the moment when it looks like nobody is conquering the places to give European football. Today it’s the 22nd, the league will finish in one month, we have six games in front of us, 18 points, so let’s go for it. The main point is to continue to play the way we play.
“I started the week talking with the boys, looking at the table. I’m very competitive, when I arrived here, I came to challenge also myself and the players, and I think we missed a big chance to fight for fourth place. We have 18 points to fight for the right to play European football at Molineux.”
On injuries in the camp
“Ruben’s still out for this game and Daniel and Max – two days ago, the injury in the stadium, and he came out with a little pain so will not be available for the next game. Ruben is working well, for this game no, let’s see at the beginning of the week if he can start training with us. If he can, maybe he can be available for the next game.
“They [Semedo and Neto] are ready to play. I will not say if they start or not, but they are ready to play.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 21, 2022
On times changing at Burnley
“It was ten years with him [Sean Dyche]. I remember when I arrived here with Carlos at Sheffield Wednesday, he was the manager of Burnley, he was promoted in the Championship, and then again, and to the Europa League. Ten years of a great job, but this is football.
“A Burnley team with or without him is a hard team to play against. We remember what happened in the first game, we played well, and it was 0-0. When you look at the game, and what they did in the last games, it’s the same thing – solid, compact, everyone is running for goals, and they are running for survival.
“When you are in that position and have five or six in front of you, you are running for survival, and I saw it. It’s a hard place to play and I believe Wolves haven’t won there since 2010. We go there because also we have our own goals – six games to go, a short distance, let’s go fight for a place to put the club next year in European football.”
On Wolves being up for the challenge
“I said to my players, ‘Look, these guys are fighting for their lives’. They see the chance they have in front of them, because they won yesterday and they see the distance to Everton is not big, and if you notice, when the referee blew the whistle for half-time, all the players and staff ran as fast as they could to the dressing room, and the people supported them.
“They are alive and will fight for their lives on Sunday, but also us, we are fighting for a different goal, and what can motivate Wolves more than to play against them and win the three points to put the club in Europe? We are on the same page as they and need to show it on Sunday.”
On looking for a response
“Every time we come from a bad game, the team gives me a good answer. What I want is to prepare my team with the best strategy to go there and win the three points because it’s very important for us also. We know how they play, we watch everything, we try to prepare the game in the best way. It’s the best for the fans when you come to the last games, and you see teams playing for goals.”
On working with Moutinho
“I’m very happy to work with him. Even today, I shook his hand at training, we were doing a small exercise, and the strategy of his team he prepared everything to win. Even for a small exercise, you’re 35 years old and you want to win this, that’s why I shook his hard. It’s hard to find men like him.”
