Nuno challenges Wolves fringe players
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has challenged his squad players to force their way into his XI – and called for more protection from referees.
The head coach has almost named the same XI for all five league matches so far, with just Ruben Vinagre replacing the injured Barry Douglas at Brentford last time out.
Willy Boly is set to miss this weekend’s visit of Millwall with a hamstring injury, with either Danny Batth, Ryan Bennett or Sylvain Deslandes set to deputise.
And Nuno said: “It’s about having a squad. The exact expression or sentence I use – there’s not a player that doesn’t start in the XI. It’s a player who’s waiting for his chance. It’s the way he waits for that and being ready for it.
“It’s not about who starts and who doesn’t start. At the same time the players who start must maintain their performance to stay in the team and the others must be ready.
“It’s the way we work. We prepare all the players we have.
“We give the same tools and instructions to every player.
“They have to be available and at a high level of performance to choose them.”
Wolves struggled against physical opposition in Cardiff last month and it’s a tactic other sides will employ against them. Nuno says that’s out of Wolves’ control – but again said referees must help.
“We cannot control the strategies of other teams. Once we’ve experienced something we have to find solutions to do it better – and never changing our idea,” he said.
“The referee must be under the law of FIFA. If it’s a foul in the Championship or the Champions League it’s a foul.
“If a team uses a tactic we have to find solutions.
“We prepare to face every kind of opponent. We cannot control the strategies of other teams.”
