Dave Edwards: Derby day defeat - but Wolves' performance provided reasons for hope

It was just one of those games in which, when you are down at the bottom of the table, you don’t get any sort of luck. 

The key moments, the chances we had, we weren’t able to take and Villa found that quality with an absolute worldie to take the game away from us.

But I saw a Wolves team which had a real good go. There were some fine individual performances, particularly from the front three, while Andre was the best player on the pitch. He is going to be so important to use moving forward.

When you look at the performance, you saw a team capable of finishing above the relegation zone.

The concern is the gap already there to safety makes it look almost impossible for Wolves to stay up. If Sunday had been the first game of the season, no-one would be worried about this team. That is where we have to take a lot of positives from.

I liked the way Rob Edwards set the team up. It was a shame Ladislav Krejci was injured but there was a lot of athleticism in the back five and that helped us cope with the pace Villa have in their forward line.

What impressed me the most was how Wolves played in possession.

I watched the match from the away end with my son and there were a few times when fans around us were urging Wolves to move the ball forward more quickly.

But I thought they got the balance right. What they were doing was being very slow, especially across the back three, allowing Villa to get back in their shape and then once they moved it side-to-side, they could pull them around.

All of a sudden, the key players we wanted on the ball, the likes of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Jhon Arias were working behind the Villa midfield. When we created space we were able to punch the ball into them. 

When we did that, we looked really dangerous and were in on Villa’s backline. When we try to move the ball too quickly, we don’t have a huge amount of pace in the team. I felt the method we used was the best one and it worked really well on occasion. Moving it side-to-side, we eventually got overloads on the right-hand side and were able to release Jackson Tchatchoua. 

Technically, he is not amazing but some of the balls he put into the box were really good.

Out of possession, we defended the centre of the pitch really well, forcing Villa out wide. We also defended our box very well. Anything that came in, Wolves were really aggressive, winning the first contact and second contact and clearing our lines.

It took a wonder goal to beat us and there was controversy in the build-up. I thought Joao Gomes was definitely fouled.

Wolves created chances and that was the area I was worried about. To go to Villa, who are so good at home, and create four or five really good chances is a big plus. We just have to be able to take them.

Overall, I was really happy with how much Wolves had improved in only a week and how much better it looked.

We have the non-negotiables which Rob Edward promised. We have the fight and the endeavour. We went toe-to-toe with Villa and that kind of application has to continue. The performance should give the players confidence heading into another huge game at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.