After scoring twice against Southampton, Jorgen Strand Larsen feels Wolves’ win on the south coast has seen the team take a big step towards Premier League survival, but insists the job is not done yet.
The Norwegian – who has been playing through the pain of a broken hand for the last few weeks – found the net early in each half to give Wolves a cushion against the Premier League’s bottom club at St Mary’s Stadium, but he believes his side would not have had to experience such a nervy end to the match had they scored from a good opportunity just before Southampton halved the deficit.
On three big points at St Mary’s
“It's massive. As in every game, we go into the football match to win the game and take the three points. I feel like we've been on a good direction in the last few weeks, not won as many games as we wanted to during the last few months and weeks, but I feel like we're still onto something.
“Today we showed in periods quite a good game, and I think we deserve to win more. If we’d have scored on that counter-attack just before their goal, we’d have three-zero and the game's done. But that's football and we had to suffer a little bit for that, but at the end, three points is really nice.
“The mission was to take three points. We know the position we are in is not great, but I feel like the last few weeks and months, we've been building on something, and we feel like we're going in a good direction. So, to come and take the three points was massive for us.”
On bagging a brace
“I felt like with nine goals, it was time to get a match winner! We built it up really well on both of the goals, and it gave me that time to find the corner. It was two great assists and two great goals. Me and Andre, we have a good relationship and sometimes we talk about doing a dance, but it never happened in the last weeks, so I’m finally happy to be back on scoring.
“We practice this a lot and I think this is one of my qualities. Sometimes it's just getting the ball on the goal, and then hopefully you can have some luck. I feel like the luck has been a little bit against me the last few months, and I’ve had a few good saves forced against me, so it's nice when those go in.
“It was good feeling, but we did amazing work today, and I think we deserved to win more because we were controlling the whole game, but at the end when they scored, it's always tough to see out the three points, but we did it well today.”
On getting back to scoring ways
“I'm not thinking too much about the numbers. I felt like I had a great start to the season, scoring seven the first six months, and as a striker, your moments will come back again.
“I feel like the last few months have been a little bit tough, I felt like I've been struggling to find my good form, but today it can change – one goal like that can change everything.
“I always give everything for the team, and I try to show that every time, but it always helps when a striker scores and it gives you confidence. I might be back scoring, but I feel like myself now, before the game, and also after the game. I'm just myself.”
On playing with a broken hand
“It's not nice to play with a broken hand because you feel like you're not able to do stuff, but I felt like we've been doing well. It's a bit painful still, but we will see Hopefully I can still manage to play well with it.”
JSL at the double 🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/bHgP3rd19w
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 15, 2025
On moving closer to safety
“The table says the truth, and right now, we're in a good spot and we have a few important games still. Every game is important, but the next period will be really important for us and I think this was a nice little win before the break.
“I think we still need to know where we are, but it gives us a good feeling going into the break now, and we can have some confidence when we come back and go on and build on what we have done.”
On coping without Cunha
“I feel like the opportunities have still been there though – even though he's a great player, he's not saying to me I can't score goals. Sometimes it takes space, but that's what we need.
“He's a great player and he would have absolutely been really good to have today and we would need him today, but I think the guys that played did well. We did a great job as a team today, and I feel with him or without him, we feel the same.
“He's a star player, he's our best player and he does great things with the ball, so of course we want him back, but at the moment, we have to work without him.”
