Express & Star

Wolves boss Nuno has pride in his Wolf pack

Nuno Espirito Santo is proud of how ‘fantastic’ Wolves are embracing the challenge of competing on multiple fronts this season.

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Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton made it four unbeaten in the Premier League – and six unbeaten in all competitions.

The next test for Nuno’s side is in Slovakia, facing Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League on Thursday.

And reacting to the Saints stalemate while looking ahead to the Group K clash, he said: “We did very well before the international break, and we know how tough it is to regroup again – getting the players back.

“There were players that were out (injured) coming back in, and now we have players going out (injured). We have a very tough schedule. We travel on Wednesday to Bratislava.

“We then have a couple of days to prepare before (going to) Newcastle (on Sunday).

“I’m very, very proud of the boys. Very proud. It’s fantastic.”

Ryan Bennett and Ruben Neves both picked up knocks and were taken off against the Saints before Raul Jimenez’s penalty cancelled out a close-range finish from Danny Ings for the visitors. Romain Saiss (hamstring) and Pedro Neto (heel) did not play a part at the weekend.

Leander Dendoncker recovered from an illness, which saw him miss both Belgium games over the international break, to start for Wolves though. Morgan Gibbs-White, who had been dealing with a slight back injury, was in the squad – albeit as an unused substitute.

Diogo Jota made his return to the fold too, coming on in the second half following a few weeks on the sidelines with a toe injury. And Nuno was pleased with how Jota did after being introduced in the 62nd minute.

“Diogo came on and did very well,” he said. “He came into the game and took the team up, very well. This is what it’s all about. Everybody’s important.”

Bennett limped off in the 17th minute and was replaced by Jesus Vallejo, while Neves was replaced at the start of the second period by Matt Doherty after going down in pain due to a tackle from Ings.

On the pair, Nuno added: “Ryan, let’s see how he is. We hope it’s not too serious. When he came out, the team lost a bit of organisation.

“There are things we have to improve, definitely have to improve. And let’s see how Ruben is. The medical department know what they’re doing.”