Matt Doherty says he’s enjoying his new role on the right of a back three under Vitor Pereira.
The Irishman has been so regularly positioned at right wing back during his two spells at Molineux, and was deployed on the left at times last season, but under the new head coach has slotted next to Santiago Bueno as a third centre back. His performance have helped the Old Gold to back-to-back victories under the new head coach, and as he prepares to face his former club Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Doherty is travelling in a positive frame of mind.
On playing in a back three
“It’s pretty new. There are times where you’re just a normal full-back, but I'm right of the back three at the moment, and I'm enjoying it. I'm not bursting my lungs trying to get up and down on the wing all the time. The manager trusted me to do it. He put me in there from his very first session, so he's obviously seen something, and that's worked out well so far.”
On the head coach communicating well
“He’s obviously got perfect English and can speak to lads in Portuguese and French as well. There are messages he's getting across to us on the pitch and on training pitch. It's obviously difficult for managers to get messages across on the pitch, but even then, when I was on the side, he was giving messages to me.
“He's been good since he came in and Gary was a great coach as well. We've always been getting good messages, but I suppose now we’re getting the results.”
On the Boxing Day win
“That's why you play football, moments like that. We've been struggling for most of the season, and we've just come off two really big performances and clean sheets. For the manager it must be an unbelievable feeling. He keeps telling us about how he's waited so long to manage in the Premier League. He used to watch Boxing Day at home on his couch, and always wanted to be involved. So, I'm sure he'll remember it for a long time.”
On facing ten men
“When a team goes down to ten men people think it can be easy, but a lot of the time they sit in with a low block. But, we were fortunate enough to take the lead straight away, and that just calms everybody down.
“But the game doesn't necessarily become easier. I think they changed their press, which you could probably see in the game we were kind of struggling to get out towards the end. Fair play to them, they adapted with 10 men, it’s not easy, but we got that goal at the end to seal it.”
Another step in the right direction 💪 pic.twitter.com/TyJxIjHTxu
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 26, 2024
On Cunha’s impact
“Did nobody see the block and the goalkeeper? Yeah, he's top player and got Man the Match again. You can see the calmness he has on the ball, he never gives it away, and we’re very fortunate to have him, he’s an amazing player.”
On the plan moving forward
“We're going to play in a certain shape. We're not going to change too much. We've had a great bounce in the last couple of games since he's come in. We just have to make sure we stay in that middle ground, don't get too high about it. We have Tottenham in three days again, so we’re got to make sure we stay level-headed.”
