Sasa Kalajdzic says he’s back in a good place on the pitch after he struck a late winner for Wolves at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Ending a week where he made his return to the international stage after a year away, the Austrian came off the bench with eight minutes left at the Vitality Stadium, and six later was celebrating the winner, which he calmly converted. It was the striker’s third goal of the season, and second late winner on the road after his header at Everton, and he’s thankful that his body is holding up and allowing him to contribute to Gary O’Neil’s side.
On firing Wolves to victory
“Obviously it was very important for me, but more important for the team. I’m very happy that I could score again after a few weeks and help the team achieve some massive points. In the end we deserved it. It was a tough game, especially first half, but we did well in the second half. The red card helped us, of course. It’s always nice to win, but this way is even sweeter.”
On being in a good place personally
“I’m happy. Currently it’s going well. I’m thankful for my health, that my body is doing well, my knee’s doing well, and I just try to make an impact and make it harder for the gaffer and coaching staff to not put me in the first 11.
“I just want to bring the best, I accept every decision and when I came on, even when it was just ten minutes, I tried to put my best inside. I knew I could make an impact and in the end it paid off. I hope next week it will continue like this.”
🤌 The pass
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 21, 2023
❄️ The finish
Securing all three points in the 88th minute 😍 pic.twitter.com/yoXtv2gvTh
On making an impact off the bench
“I was fevering with the team in every situation, every tackle, every shot. I just tried to bring energy inside. I was just into the game [on the bench]. I think I have qualities not only in the air. The pass from ‘Channy’ was brilliant, through the guys, and I tried to be instinctive and thankfully it worked.”
On upping the intensity second half
“Everyone was a little bit furious [at the break] because we didn’t put the plan on the pitch like we wanted. He told us to stay calm, stick to the plan, and obviously it worked.
“I think Bournemouth were more aggressive and better in the tackles, so we didn’t have much control, but in the second half we turned it around, Doyle when he came on had a massive impact, then Cunha with a great finish.”
On being patient against ten
“It was in the 55th minute and we played then around the box like hand ball. You can’t lose the calmness, stay calm on the ball and the chance will come because we have the quality and in the end it paid off.
“For me personally, I always believe that you’ll get that one chance, maybe me, maybe somebody else, so you have to believe. When you don’t believe, nothing will happen, so the hope is always there.”
On the team’s good form
“I hope [momentum is building] – against some tough sides, the current Champions League winner, Aston Villa who are doing well in the league and away at Bournemouth, away is always tougher, because at home we’re really hard to beat and we have a really big advantage because of our home fans. This win was veryimportant to give us more confidence and maybe when you look at the table to feel we’re in a good spot. I’m looking forward to the next games.”
On attention turning to Newcastle
“It’s a very tough game. Newcastle are playing in the Champions League, so I don’t have to say a lot about that. But we are playing at home, it’s in the evening, so we know what we can do at home and we’ll try our best.”
