Nuno admits Wolves still have problems; hails Willian Jose impact

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo admits there are still problems to solve for his side despite the morale-boosting win over Arsenal.

A 2-1 victory on Tuesday night saw Wolves win in the Premier League for the first time since December 15.

But it came against an Arsenal side who were depleted following red cards for both David Luiz and Bernd Leno. The Gunners had initially led at Molineux before slipping to defeat.

Wolves now host title prospects Leicester on Sunday and, while acknowledging the boost the Arsenal win will give his players, Nuno is keen to keep working hard to move further up the table.

“Of course the confidence and the mood is better. The approach to the game was better,” he said.

“But it was a strange game to make a proper evaluation of because of the circumstances with the red cards. But the first half and the beginning of the game shows we have to compete better in normal circumstances and we will try this on Sunday.

“It is the realisation that the game showed us in the beginning that we have to compete better. The mood and confidence is better but the problems are still there for us to solve and this is the focus.”

Wolves v Leicester City Match Preview, February 07, 2021

Wolves v Leicester City Match Preview, February 07, 2021

A look ahead to the Premier League game between Wolves and Leicester City, including stats on form, possession, shots, cards, corners, top scorers and previous meetings.

Arsenal unsuccessfully appealed against the red card shown to Luiz moments before half-time after the Brazilian was adjudged to have fouled compatriot Willian Jose inside the box.

Ruben Neves would cancel out Nicolas Pepe’s opener from the resulting penalty before a fine Joao Moutinho strike won the game for the hosts.

Jose was making his home debut having joined on loan from Real Sociedad during the January transfer window. Nuno has been impressed by what he has seen from the striker so far.

“He has already had an immediate impact on the team,” added the Portuguese.

“We needed to have more options alongside Fabio (Silva) and Willian is a very talented player. We are in the process of trying to engage him on the ideas of the team organisation and better knowledge of his team-mates and we are trying to speed that up.

“Every training session is a good time to do it and Willian has been doing that on his own part. We are very pleased with that.”


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Nuno backs concussion substitutes

Nuno also said Wolves “have problems” in terms of which players are fit and available for the game against Leicester – although he kept his cards close to his chest.

One player definitely missing is Raul Jimenez – the forward having fractured his skull following a collision with Luiz in the win at Arsenal on November 29.

His injury and the decision to allow Luiz to carry on playing following the incident, led to fresh calls for concussion substitutes to be introduced.

This weekend’s fixtures will see the Premier League trial the use of additional permanent concussion substitutes – something Nuno is in favour of.

“It was obvious that the substitution due to concussion has to come,” he added.

“Yesterday there was a meeting, it is going to be introduced this weekend in the Premier League. I truly hope it doesn’t happen to any team and we don’t have to use it – but it is for the welfare of the player so it is welcome and it is needed.”

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