Express & Star

Conor Coady enthused by new-look Wolves

Conor Coady played a starring role as Wolves road tested their new 3-4-3 formation in Nuno's first game in charge and said: "This can work."

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Coady played at centre half as Wolves beat Werder Bremen 1-0 thanks to Nouha Dicko's well-taken second half goal.

The Bundesliga side hit the woodwork twice late on but otherwise Wolves were comfortable during a game played at a gentle pace.

With Nuno waiting until after the third and final pre-season game against Jabonlec next Tuesday to give a public assessment, Coady spoke to the Express & Star to express his delight at Wolves' win – and their new formation.

"I loved it," he said. "It was a great run out and to beat a team like that...we knew it was going to be a tough game and it wasn't so much about the result but improving how we're going to play and get the gaffer's ideas across.

"I thought the lads were solid and it was a great goal from Nouha as well.

"We've played against 3-4-3 a lot before and it's tough to play against. I remember when we beat Forest at home in April, they were only just starting it under Mark Warburton and the way they were playing it out from the back it was like they always had an extra body.

"We want to do it in our own way, we're taking the gaffer's ideas on board. You look at the squad building now, all of a sudden it's looking very strong.

"Ruben (Neves) is a massive acquisition for us but we've still got Dave Edwards in there, Pricey is there, Saiss I thought was outstanding today.

"These boys can play - if we can get it right it'll be some formation."

Jack Price and new signing Barry Douglas enjoyed standout performances, while new £15million signing Neves played the last half an hour.

Coady was the only one to play the full 90 in his new role.

It's something he's enjoyed getting to grips with in training for the past couple of weeks.

"I played centre half growing up a couple of times, just at youth level at Liverpool in a back four," Coady added. "I've really enjoyed it in the past couple of weeks. The gaffer's spoken to me about a few things - hopefully if he keeps on picking me there I'll keep improving.

"I've not played in a back three before, you can see in training every day we're getting better.

"The manager's spoken to me a lot about being in there, organising and helping the boys as much as I can.

"I've said before, I don't mind where I play. I came back in, he started doing shapes and I was in there.

"I'm not one to say why I'm in or anything like that. I just want to keep on improving.

"The quality of players coming in is high. And you don't just look at Neves, you look at Ryan Bennett coming in who has that Championship experience, same as John Ruddy, you could hear him today talking to everyone.

"Willy Boly is a beast, what a monster! He's scary in training - you can hear him coming behind you! Luckily he's always the opposite side to me.

"But you can tell he's after people! He's a great player. To get him here on a season long loan from Porto is a massive coup for the club.

"There's a lot of young boys in this team and the guys coming in are going to help everyone.

"The gaffer's bringing his ideas across and the boys are looking into it and seeing that if we get it right as a team it will work.

"He wants to play with three strikers which is fantastic for everybody, we want to create, we want to entertain, we want to score goals.

"This is a start for us - we've played well today, hung on a bit at the end but sometimes you've got to do that.

"It's about building now."