Gary O’Neil says his squad are in a “good place” ahead of Saturday’s early kick-off against Liverpool, on the back of two weeks of hard work at Compton Park.
The free week allowed the head coach, who arrived at Wolves on the eve of the new season, to put in the work with those players not on international duty, instilling his beliefs and preparing for Saturday’s game. The search for goals was on O’Neil’s agenda during the past fortnight, but he’s confident if opportunities continue to be created at the rate they have been so far this season, the goal count will start to rise.
On the group being ready
“The lads are in a good spot. Hodgey’s still out, but the rest of the group are in a good place. A couple rejoined us late, it was the first day of training [on Friday] for a couple, but in terms of injuries we’re in a good spot.
“Tommy Doyle played a part in the training ground game and felt fine. He hasn’t played a lot of football since the Euros, but we’re trying to get him up to speed enough to be in and around the matchday squad tomorrow which is positive.
“We have a couple of question marks, as I’m sure all managers do, over the lads who’ve travelled a long way, how well they’ll be able to recover and go again, especially for an early kick-off, but I’m looking forward to the game. Playing at home, in front of our crowd, against one of the biggest teams in England is always exciting.”
On a tough challenge ahead
“Liverpool have been very impressive this season, I think they’ve made a big improvement from last season with their structure. I’ve watched all of their games from this season, and they look a very good side, so it’ll be a tough game for us, of course.
“It’s going to be a tough test. We’ve got a good game plan in place that allows us to be aggressive when we’re ready to, allows us to have good spells with the ball, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the boys can produce.”
Relive the last time we hosted Liverpool 🙌#WOLLIV | @MNEGlobal pic.twitter.com/rKjK2jDwV5
— Wolves (@Wolves) September 14, 2023
On turning chances to goals
“We’re creating a lot of chances. My job is to understand exactly what’s going on, how and why. Data and numbers wise, we’re creating a lot of good opportunities and arriving in good areas. There’s still a lot we need to improve to get it to where I think it should be.
“There’s been situations we could have done better from, but we’ll keep creating situations. I’m sure this weekend, against a team who are going to be strong, we can create some opportunities to hurt them.”
On the international week to prepare
“You want to work with all of them in a break like that, but you realise the volume of players you’ve got away. There wasn’t much we could do team wise. We managed to get in some good work and had a game we managed to arrange which some of the players played a big part in, to help us understand structure wise.
“Enso’s [Gonzalez] integrated well and managed to do a lot of days training with us. He’s got used to the surroundings and it’s helped him settle in. It’s been a positive two weeks for him. He has a lot of talent, is still very young and we need to help him adapt his game to the Premier League, but he can have an impact definitely. He’s shown flashes in training, and you’d expect him to make an impact in the Premier League.”
On Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
“He’s been excellent in training – very, very good. His approach, his work ethic, how well he understands what you ask, there’s no fuss about him. He never questions what is asked of him, he has a good understanding and is willing to do it. He has a fantastic attitude, quality and athleticism.
“It’s a step up into the Premier League but we’re excited to see how well and how quickly he can adjust, and what impact he can have on it.”
On Santiago Bueno
“He’s a good footballer, good with the ball and has athleticism as well. I haven’t seen a lot of him, he did a day with us before the Crystal Palace game, and he got a call up into the Uruguay squad so only arrived back today for training. It was important we had four senior centre halves and also that he’s a good player who will add competition for the two who have the shirt.”
On Silva impressing for Portugal’s youngsters
“Scoring goals definitely helps with confidence. He’s played quite a lot of minutes for us, so I was pleased he managed to get some minutes while he was away as well, keeping up his fitness and sharpness and some goals to keep up his confidence. You know what number nines are like, when they’re scoring they get an extra boost, so I’m pleased he’s managed to go away and have a successful couple of weeks.”
