The Molineux side scored twice through Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore, while Hee Chan Hwang saw his penalty saved, before the Championship side hit back after the break, but the head coach saw plenty in the performance to be happy about ahead of another tough test against Newcastle United in the Premier League this weekend.
On progressing in the cup
“In the first-half, what we did it was good. When it went 2-0 and we didn’t score the penalty and then we chance for Preston to score, the game was unbalanced, but every time we tried to be in control of the game.
“I think we did 45 minutes at a top level because we didn’t give any chance to Preston to play their game, but we know how tough they are because five games without conceding goals, and today we had great chances to score a lot of goals. I know the spirit of the Championship, I know the spirit Preston and they are a team who is tough every time to play against, and they did everything.
“But I think we continued to play, we were solid when Ruben [Neves], Neto and Guedes came into the game and they try to control on the game, also Jonny and Daniel [Podence], to control the game with and without the ball, so we deserved the victory. Now it’s to continue to work.”
Keep pushing for a third 👊 pic.twitter.com/GhxxXFkV0C
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 23, 2022
On giving minutes to returning players
“I’m happy and now it’s continuing to look forward. Happy with the performance, happy with the victory, we know what the meaning of the cup for the club, so we respect the league cup and it’s one more moment to put players who come from injury like Semedo, Adama [Traore], Joao [Moutinho] and Raul [Jimenez], and one more time for the players like Matheus [Nunes] and Guedes who only just arrived.
“It gives them time to get to know their teammates better. We had the pre-season and now we have this time where we know we need to have good performances.
“We need to give minutes to everyone to be fit and to be ready to play because the competition is again in another three or four days and we need everyone to be ready to play in this level, to play in this rhythm and to play as we did today.”
On finding the net
“It’s the team and the way the team wants to play. High pressure. I think the first 45 minutes and the way we pressed, the way we played and the chances we created, it was so good.
“After, you might expect some players without the rhythm and the minutes, like the ones I said, can happen on a little break, but that’s why we want to create this squad with a lot of solutions to continue in a good rhythm. We created more than enough chances to win with more goals, but for now, I’m happy with what we did and happy with the goals we scored.”
1️⃣7️⃣ + 2️⃣7️⃣
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 23, 2022
🇵🇹👏 pic.twitter.com/EQIsva7esb
On Jimenez’s goalscoring return
“I’m so happy that Raul scored again because he’s an important player for us. I was very sorry for the injury that meant we lost him in that game against Besiktas because the way he started the pre-season it was good, two games, two goals, and he started very well this game with one more goal.
“It’s important for him and important for the team to start to think the work we are doing and believe the work we are doing. The plan was for him to play 60 minutes, he played 80 in a good level, but now we need to recover and see what happens on Sunday because it’s a tough game against Newcastle and we will be ready to play at this level.”
On possible transfer activity
“Some things will happen until the end of the month. As you can see, we are active in this moment, so let’s see what can happen. We have one or two players who maybe if they don’t feel that they have the chance to play here, maybe they have a chance to move, and we need to continue to find players in the positions that we need.”
