Having stepped up from academy to fill in while the search for a new boss continues, the 57-year-old felt his side still have plenty to work on having slipped to their third loss in succession, and although he was left frustrated with the result, he remains positive and believes there is plenty of quality in the squad to turn results around.
On defeat against Chelsea
“I enjoyed the game even though I didn’t enjoy the result, as I think it was good in spells and we had some really good moments. We kept going, we didn’t let the goals we conceded get to us and we tried to get on the ball, be brave, and that’s what I wanted them to do.
“We worked hard, I couldn’t have asked for any more in terms of effort and commitment, which is what we asked from them at the start. If we’d have got to half-time at 0-0, it was a huge blow right at the death, because we wanted to stay in the game as long as we could and that might have made a different second half.
“If we were going in at 0-0, we had a terrific start to the second half, especially the first 15 minutes, but I felt that the goal came after the time. I asked the fourth official and he said it was time, and then the cross came in and they scored. It’s a little bit disappointing but I guess when you’re down, that’s how your luck goes.”
On changes at the break
“We put an extra midfield player on to try to cope with the changes in midfield that they made, and when we got on the ball, I thought we did it in good areas. We got the ball out to Adama who got a lot of crosses into the box, but we weren’t able to get enough bodies into the box.
“That’s something we’ve got to work on. We had more shots in the box today than we had previously, so we’ve got to look at the positives. We’ll also look at the things we can do a little bit better and we’ve got a week to work on them.”
On Diego Costa’s first Wolves start
“He adds something up there and he can only get better. He’s not played for some time but he did some good things today, he was always a threat, he was a constant menace and he just needs more games. He understands that and we understand that, and it’s going to be a work in progress.
“He’s rusty, but the positive thing is that he got through the minutes with no problems or no injuries, so we’re looking to give him more minutes next week. He’ll have a full week’s training, we’ll get Ruben [Neves] back, and it’s the same with Adama. He’s come back from injury and got through as long as we thought today, so they’re the positives and next week is going to be an important game.”
His first Wolves start at Stamford Bridge.
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 8, 2022
🤩🐺 pic.twitter.com/Oj0cPiFJeS
On managing Wolves in the Premier League
“It was a bit surreal coming into it, and I’ve surprised myself by how calm I’ve been on the sideline. Obviously, I share the frustrations of the fans as a supporter myself, but you’ve got to take the emotion out of the situation, and I’ve been calm about it, I’ve been positive about it although I’m disappointed with the result. I can’t hide that.
“But all I can do is be positive with the players and be around the players to try to lift them because there were a lot of positives from that. I was very pleased with some of the aspects of the game.”
On plans for next week
“I have no idea. No-one has said anything about after today but we’ve already planned for what we want to do next week but all we’ve done is plan for each game, and come Monday, we could be back over in the first-team building instead of back in the academy.
“The appetite has always been there, that’s what I’ve done all my life and if I get another couple of games that will be great as I think we can make a difference and in a short space of time, we have made a difference already. We’ll stay positive, keep working on the things we can get better and that’s what we’ll do this week.”
