Wolves v Fulham - Match preview

Last Sunday, his side fell to a crushing 4-0 defeat away to West Ham in what was widely perceived as the worst Wolves performance under Nuno’s tenure.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, last season was drastically extended and the club’s journey in the Europa League meant they had limited time to prepare for the current campaign.

When asked if tiredness could be an factor in his side’s poor showing, Nuno said: “We should look at some aspects.

“We started the season with a very small squad, a lot of players are involved in national teams.

“Due to the pandemic the schedule and fixtures has changed. International breaks didn’t quite make sense.

“They played very competitive games in their national teams.

“They returned and we started to prepare for what’s in front of us, playing, training, at the same time now with breaks.

“It’s realising all these things, realising what was in front of us and knowing how to assess it and decide where we are moving forward.

“This is how we work. We don’t work under fear, we work with the confidence that we want to do things right.

“Making a decision requires a lot of time, a lot of dialogue, a lot of involvement of all the things.

“It’s about taking time to decide well and making things that the players can improve. Going back to that level.”

Tomorrow’s opponents Fulham were promoted to the Premier League alongside Wolves in the 2017/18 season before being relegated the following year.

Now they are back and have struggled with three losses in three top-flight games so far.

Although Nuno insists you cannot compare the two clubs and their experiences, he is expecting a stern test.

“It’s difficult to compare, two different situations,” he said. “We got promoted in the same season, we were able to establish ourselves and Fulham did not achieve that.

“But, they bounced back immediately after so they are back in the Premier League.

“What I see now is a good team, good players that will require a lot from us.

“Everybody has to learn fast, this is the job of the managers.

“We are focused on us, because we have enough problems to solve.

“Let’s think only about us, we have enough situations that we have to improve.

“Only look at us and find the solutions.

“We have to play the game like we always do.

“It’s another game in front of us, a new challenge.

“A tough one and we have to perform and play good. The players must improve.

“My job this week is mainly to improve the performance and the level of the players.”