Wolves boss Bruno Lage: Jose Sa's penalty save was redemption for Leeds error

Last campaign, in his first year at the club, Sa was one of the stand-out names as Wolves were in the hunt for European football.

However, he made a poor start this season after a calamitous error for Leeds’ opener last week.

Now, after a much stronger display in which he saved Aleksandar Mitrovic’s late penalty, Lage has challenged the goalkeeper to keep improving.

“In the last game we were talking about Jose because he was unhappy with the first goal, now he makes this save and we don’t concede,” Lage said.

“Football is about that. When I do the evolution of the players it’s not about the mistakes they do, it’s about the good things they can do. That’s the standard.

“Jose had a fantastic season, the pre-season wasn’t good for him because he was in recovery, and today he came with that save.

“I’m happy with him and he needs to continue to work because he can be one of the good names in the Premier League this season.”

When asked about the penalty decision, after Rayan Ait-Nouri fouled Bobby Decordova-Reid, Lage said: “I didn’t see it. I cannot say nothing about the penalty.”

Wolves dominated large parts of the Molineux clash but were unable to find their scoring touch after creating several big chances.

Lage was pleased with the display and attacking intent – and believes his team should have taken three points – but has called on his forwards to find their clinical edge.

“I think we deserved to win the game, but we need to score goals and put the ball in the net,” he added.

“We had plenty of chances to do that. Sometimes our players faced the goalkeeper, there were two situations without the goalkeeper in the goal – first with Pedro and the second one with Morgan – so they’re clear chances to score goals.

“Again it was another good performance. We had personality. The way the fans responded, I can see they enjoyed the performance, now we continue to work.

“We are working hard at everything. I am happy because of the performance, but I think we’ve lost two points against a strong opponent.

“Marco is a top manager and the way they played against Liverpool was different, they respected our team a lot. It means a lot, which is why he’s a top manager.

“Look at what they did in the Championship and how they started the Premier League, they came here and respected us. It means a lot to us.

“Now we continue to work, this is our direction and the fans are happy. We are happy but I want more.

“Monday we will push hard because we are working hard for our fans.”

Towards the end of the game there was a clash between Morgan Gibbs-White and Mitrovic, after the Fulham striker cynically brought down the Wolves man as he broke forward – and Lage believes Mitrovic could have seen red.

“I can say with the situation with Mitrovic, it is about the rules,” he said.

“When you foul and break the transition, it is a clear yellow card. If you kick or are too aggressive, it is a red card.

“I didn’t see it, but they asked me if it’s yellow or red, and my opinion is with the way you stop (the transition).

“I didn’t see it, but if they did (headbutt) it’s a red card for both. It’s so clear.”