Julen Lopetegui says he didn’t recognise his players in Saturday’s loss to Brighton & Hove Albion but took responsibility for that fact.
Wolves conceded twice in the opening stages at the AMEX Stadium and were facing an uphill task from that point. They never recovered and finished well beaten come full-time, but with four fixtures remaining, and the aim of survival still very realistic, Lopetegui wants his group to recover and go again quickly.
On summing it up
“We’re thinking of our fans, it’s a pity, we are very sad for them. They came here and it has been a very bad match for our path. It’s not easy to make one assessment. We suffered very early one goal, without any dangerous situations, with ten players behind the ball. They scored the second goal very fast and we lost the ball in a clear situation for us. After, against this kind of team, when you start losing quickly, it’s not easy to play. They played with a big confidence.
“The first guilty is me. It’s about the coach and it’s a very bad day. We have to think we lost one battle, but we are in the war, we have to continue to recover and be in the next day to work with a good face and energy because we are in the middle. Today is a hard day, but we have to continue. Our aim is to be out of the relegation at the end of the season and we have to put the focus on the next match.”
On the mistakes made
“We suffered very early one goal, two goals. Today, for a lot of reasons, we lost 6-0. You have to be able to recover your energy. We had big mistakes, but when a team makes a lot mistakes, the responsibility is the coach. You have to give each one an assessment and after be ready for the next fight because we are better than we showed today.
“When you suffer two early goals, you can do better. That’s what I told the players, I’m guilty, the responsibility of the match, but today I didn’t recognise my team, my players. That’s why we have to look for the next match with the best face and be able to recover the energy, the mentality, and be ready for the next fight.”
On feeling for the fans
“We are sorry for today, but we have to remember four months ago we were bottom. At least we have hope, we think it’s possible to be out at the end of the season. It’s going to be hard, but it’s possible and together we have to push a lot at home.
“Today we lost one battle, but not the war, so we have to be ready to achieve our aim at the end of the season.”
On being up for the fight still
“All the things can happen the other way around, so we have to overcome this moment as a team. We have worked very hard the last four months. When we came here, we were bottom and we have to fight very hard to achieve our aim.
“We are fighting in the middle of the battle. We have a lot of points in front of us and I’m sure we’re going to get more points to be out. It’s not going to be easy, so we have to be ready.”
