Express & Star

Hot-shot Leo Bonatini loving Wolves freedom

Goal machine Leo Bonatini says being let loose to play with freedom is a key part of Wolves' success – and he wants to stay at the club.

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The Brazilian was Wolves' match-winner again on Monday when his 12th goal of the season sealed a derby win at Blues.

Al-Hilal loanee Bonatini has played a vital role for Nuno Espirito Santo's team and often combined to great effect with Diogo Jota and Ivan Cavaleiro.

He believes the freedom Nuno affords the team is important.

"Nuno is a coach that leaves us free on the pitch to do what we want – to play football and be free," Bonatini said.

"The most important thing is we don’t need to put ourselves under pressure, we should enjoy what we like to do.

"I enjoy it with all the guys, not just Jota and Cavaleiro, all the team and those who aren’t in the team, they’re working really hard too.

"Sometimes we’re playing and people don’t see the guys behind us (in the pecking order) but they’re really important too, they help us during the week and never give up.

"We feel comfortable with them. It’s a family."

Bonatini is on loan for the season but Wolves had a deal in place to make the move permanent.

It's something the 23-year-old suggested he wants.

"I’m so happy to score (12 goals) but I’m more happy because we are top of the league and playing well.

"I’m happy to live in Wolverhampton, I like to live in the city and I want to stay – it’s what I really want."

Bonatini was also grateful for goal-line technology assisting his winning goal, which was cleared from behind the line by a Blues defender.

He said he knew it was in and added: "The defender was inside of the goal and I was close to him.

"I was screaming to the referee to give us a goal – I’m happy we have the technology to help us."

Nuno is leaving little to chance as he prepares his team to take on whatever the Championship has to offer.

Wolves' large backroom team includes specialist analysts who help the head coach compile detailed information on the teams they're facing.

Bonatini says it helps give them confidence when they take to the field.

"He knows everything about the opponents so we feel comfortable and know what we need to do," Bonatini said.

"It’s really good to arrive in the game and know what we have to do.

"Every week he gives us information on who we play, what we’ll find on the pitch, what we need to do to try to beat them.

"We have a good staff that give us all the information. We just need to follow the instructions and the advice."

Monday's 1-0 win at Blues was hardly a classic Wolves performance.

Bonatini was delighted with the win but called for improvements against Sunderland on Friday.

"We knew it would be a tough game for us," he added.

"We expected for us to play more and better but what the mister (Nuno) said to us we went a long time without playing and I think we felt a bit of that.

"But the most important thing is we took three points.

"Now we need to think about the next game in front of our fans – we should try to play better and give them a victory.

"We feel we have things to improve. We know that.

"The next game will be hard as well. We’re happy to be at home – the fans are helping us a lot.

"We need to know how to play all these games. We know we could play better but the most important thing is we got three points.

"We’ll try to improve this week to arrive in the next game and play better."

And on Wolves' promotion prospects he said: "We need to work hard because it’s not done, we have a lot of games and a long season to play with difficult games.

"We need to think step by step, game by game. There are many points to play for."