Express & Star

Gary O'Neil hails 'massive' Wolves win over Burnley

Gary O’Neil has hailed a ‘massive’ win as Wolves took all three points against Burnley.

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Hwang Hee-chan’s ninth goal of the season, and eighth in the Premier League, was enough to separate the sides on a freezing night at Molineux.

O’Neil was pleased with his side’s showing against a struggling, but difficult to play against Burnley side.

“It’s a massive win for us,” O’Neil said.

“I’ve watched a lot of Burnley, they’re very well organised and every team I’ve watched against them has struggled to progress up the pitch with the ball.

“So trying to convince the lads that we might not be able to play through this team the way we have done recently, and it might be a case of threatening the ball in behind, getting runners and even if you’re not successful, can you press the next one? We managed to get some success from that, but Burnley are a good side. It’s maybe disrespectful to say ‘job done’, because they won the Championship by some way and were big spenders in the summer.

“They have every right to be competitive at this level and no Premier League game is easy, so I’m really pleased. It’s a big win.”

Minutes before the goal Dan Bentley, who came in for the injured Jose Sa, pulled off a magnificent double save to deny the visitors.

The moment came from a huge Joao Gomes mistake, and it was one O’Neil focused on at full-time.

He said: “The double save shouldn’t exist. To put ourselves in that situation from our own throw-in was absolutely crazy. I’m glad you didn’t have a microphone on me at that point!

“It was a big save from Bents and we managed to tidy a few bits up around that situation at half-time.

“Burnley weren’t causing us any issues and we didn’t need to create our own. We were much better second half and didn’t create out own issues.”