Express & Star

Rui Patricio; I'm still learning at Wolves

Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio says he’s still learning the game at the age of 31 – and has enjoyed developing in the Premier League.

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The experienced Portuguese shot-stopper joined Wolves in a £15million deal from Sporting, which was finalised earlier this season.

Patricio has arguably been Wolves’ best player in their past two league games, the win over Manchester United and Saturday’s defeat at Southampton.

He said of his progress this season “Every match, every training session is an opportunity for me to evolve and to

“So, at the end of my first year here, I’ve noticed some rapid growth because it’s a new competition, everything is completely different.

“The game is different, the tactics are different, the technique is different. It’s been a very good experience. I take advantage of every game and of every training session to grow, to evolve.

“I will continue to do that. In every training session, I want to develop. I’m happy with the initial phase that I’ve had here.

“Of course, I’m very happy to be doing well but I still want to do better. I want to adapt further.

“Every day in every training session, in every game, I want to do better.”

Patricio has a mix of mostly Portuguese and English-speaking team mates.

He struggled to cope with the language barrier at first, but this is something else he has improved as the year has gone on.

“It’s a lot easier now,” he added. “At the start it was hard, but I had a few short key words to be able to communicate effectively.

“As time passed and we learnt our game, things got easier and we understood each other better.

“Of course, at the start it was hard and we were speaking a mixture of English and Portuguese, at the same time.”

Team-mate Raul Jimenez attracted plenty of attention when donning a mask to celebrate scoring against Watford in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Patricio, though, believes it wasn’t a big issue.

“It wasn’t the first time that had seen him do that, because he did it in Portugal,” the keeper added. “He likes to do it but I don’t think it’s worth debating.

“People want to create a debate, but it doesn’t represent anything negative in my opinion.

“He did it in Portugal and it was fine.”