James Collins wants more quality from Wolves under-23s
Boss James Collins is pleased with how Wolves under-23s coped during a ‘tough week’ – but now wants to see more quality in attack.
With several of his usual options away in Marbella with Nuno Espirito Santo’s first team in Marbella, after several more had left on deadline day, Collins had to promote a fair few under-18s to make up his squad for last week’s fixtures.
And Collins saw them draw 2-2 against Birmingham, remaining unbeaten in the Premier League Cup.
But they also lost 1-0 at Southampton, despite performing well, meaning they are bottom of PL2 Division One, and Collins said: “It was a long week, we knew we had a squad of younger players to pick from for the two matches.
“Having two games within a space of a few days, including a long trip down to Southampton and then a game against Birmingham – a local derby – in a cup match, was going to be a tough week for them.
"I thought we played terrific down in Southampton and didn’t get what we deserved.
“We needed to be better in the final third, but our shape and our performance without the ball was excellent.
“Then against Birmingham, we probably weren’t quite as on it, and we looked a little bit leggy, even when it was 11-v-11, and when we went down to ten men at 2-1 down (Chem Campbell sent off after two bookings), you fear for a young team, but I thought they dug in really well.
“It was a real learning curve for them, to find a way to get a point in key moments of the game, so I was impressed.”
Ultimately, though, Collins wants more players to step up in the final third as he feels the under-23s are currently too reliant on Renat Dadashov.
The 20-year-old – who turned a last-minute loan move to Blues on deadline day – has been scoring regularly since returning from an unsuccessful loan at Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira.
“We’ve got to show a bit of extra quality in the final third,” added Collins.
“We’re showing plenty of endeavour, but when we get to the final third, we’re looking to see them show that bit of class and quality to pick somebody out with the right weight of pass in the right area, and who’s really wanting to get on the end of things and running in behind.
“At the moment, we’re relying a lot on Renat, who is doing a magnificent job for us, but he’s on his own up there, so we need to show a bit more quality in the final third.
“We’ve also got to make sure that when we’re on top in games, we take advantage of that.”
The under-23s are in action on Wednesday night at Leamington, in the quarter-finals of the Birmingham Senior Cup.
