Wolves v Newport - five talking points
Wolves edged out League Two side Newport County in what was at times a nervy Capital One Cup victory at Molineux.
Captain Benik Afobe and Nouha Dicko were on the scoresheet at Kenny Jackett finally won his first League Cup game as Wolves boss.
Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.
1. The Doherty experiment didn't work
There were more than a few eyebrows raised when the team sheets came in and Matt Doherty was placed on the right flank.
With James Henry having played at Blackburn, it had seemed likely that Rajiv van La Parra would be given a run-out.
But Jackett, impressed with Doherty's pre-season form, wanted to see what the Irishman could do in tandem with Dominic Iorfa.
Well, it didn't work. Doherty, unsurprisingly enough, played like a right-back who was out of position.
In fact Iorfa was the more effective force going forward.
Doherty was withdrawn in the second half and, again to no-one's surprise, Van La Parra made more of an impact with good energy and link-up play.
While it's understandable that Jackett wants to reward good performances in training/pre-season, selecting Doherty out of position could inadvertently knock his confidence.
It would have made more sense to play Iorfa at centre half, the position he has grown up playing, and Doherty at his natural home of right-back.
2. Sheyi Ojo looks very useful
A bright and breezy full debut for the Liverpool youngster.
With Wolves floundering in the early stages, Ojo took the game by the scruff of the neck with an enterprising run, winning a free kick just outside the box.
He took it himself – an excellent effort which forced a sprawling save – and then soon picked up the pieces to whip a come-and-get-me cross to Nouha Dicko, who came and got it. And scored.
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Delivered another couple of teasing crosses, dovetailed nicely with Scott Golbourne at times and took a couple of decent corners.
Plenty more to come from him, you feel.
3. Conor Coady continues to impress
Two games for Wolves and two man of the match awards for Conor Coady.
Was also the star player against Aston Villa too. Put simply, Coady has hit the ground running.
He looks a step ahead of his team mates in terms of fitness, his positive nature is infectious and, with Kevin McDonald on the bench, he had a licence to push further forward, which almost yielded a long-range beauty in the first half.
He tackles, he passes, he shoots, he runs for England...Coady looks the real deal.
4. More poor defending
In what was yet another slow start to a game – counting Villa and Doncaster in pre-season that's four in a row – Wolves' defending was shoddy, to say the least.
Newport striker Scott Boden was left all alone to nod home the Welsh club's sixth-minute opener.
Doherty and new goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez then both went to clear the same ball with the former loitering dangerous in his own six yard box, and the resulting scuff nearly fell straight to a Newport player.
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Kortney Hause and Martinez then dawdled over a Newport through-ball with the keeper racing from his line, and soon after Hause nodded behind for a corner when trying to find his keeper.
It was desperately poor play and if Wolves were playing a Championship side they would surely have been punished further.
Martinez badly scuffed a second-half clearance as the individual errors continued throughout the game.
Sorting out the defence – whether that means recruiting a new centre half or drilling the current lot on the training field again and again until they're settled – should be a number one priority for Jackett.
5. Wolves are in the winning habit
Despite the negatives it was yet another victory for Wolves.
They went through pre-season unbeaten – not exactly a barometer on which to judge, but a welcome feat nonetheless – and have won their first two matches by two goals to one, despite being far from at their best.
A recurring theme emanating from Jackett, and indeed when talking to the players, has been the importance of a winning mentality.
Wolves haven't lost a game since April 14, at Middlesbrough, and the more they win the more it'll become a habit.
The big tests come now with a trio of testing fixtures – Hull and QPR at home followed by a trip to Cardiff – and if Wolves are still unbeaten at the end of that they'll be laying some excellent foundations for a promotion charge.
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