Dave Edwards: Wolves have the chance to kick on after comeback

It was a massive boost and the biggest thing to come out of it is that the fight, spirit and desire is all there.

Every single player at that football club is hard working but it’s the one thing that hasn’t been directed in the right way at times this season.

They give their absolutely everything, I’ve no doubt about that, but sometimes their emotion has gone the other way with some second half performances.

But this was a really well-directed second half, with two good goals.

Wolves started the game quite well up until the Tommy Doyle chance, which he’ll be really disappointed with given his quality.

But after that chance Wolves were a little bit too passive, they dropped deeper and deeper and they didn’t have an outlet on the counter attack.

Brighton weren’t really causing them too many problems either, but it was a game where Wolves could have been able to step up that intensity.

Then, the timing of the goals is a bit of a killer.

Jose Sa was brilliant against Manchester City and he made some excellent saves again against Brighton. But as a goalkeeper, it doesn’t matter how well you play, if you have one error it’s what is going to be remembered.

It was a distribution error as well, which is probably the one reason why they had to replace him.

He’ll be devastated but I think he’s done really well.

It was then a big moment for Gary O’Neil at half-time and 1-0 down. This is where he makes his money with the big decisions and he made two substitutions and changed formation to a back four.

With that change Wolves played very, very well in the second half.

They made another mistake giving the ball away and went 2-0 down, but overall they were excellent and the substitutions definitely made a difference on the team. Carlos Forbs had a few bright moments but didn’t play at his best, although his presence and positioning really helped the team anyway.

Pablo Sarabia was excellent when he came on. He hasn’t played since the Chelsea game, which is crazy when you think about it.

He’s had to wait patiently, but he took his chance really well.

I like him because he takes on difficult passes. He looks for that killer pass.

Sometimes it doesn’t come off. He wasn’t perfect in possession and he gave the ball away quite a few times, but he drifted into areas which were really difficult for Brighton to mark.

Matheus Cunha was a little bit better in the second half as well in his presence, while Tommy Doyle sitting alongside Joao Gomes, had another excellent game.

It’s been harsh on Doyle, with the amount of good midfielders they have at the football club, to have not played as many minutes.

His distribution is brilliant and then he had the big moment at the end.

Perhaps it was more luck than judgement when he found himself in the right place when Brighton had that counter-attack, but his pass to set up Cunha is excellent.

The pace on the pass really helps Wolves get that overload and take advantage of it.

It was an amazing moment for the Wolves fans who travelled all the way down to Brighton and kept singing all the way through the game.

Cunha also deserves that moment. He’s Wolves’ most creative player and he’s shown a lot of frustration this season in not being able to pick up results.

Hopefully it’s a platform for Wolves to build on now.

Wolves have almost created their own problems – some would say a good problem – with plenty of selection dilemmas for O’Neil.

The club went and got Andre on the last day of the window and when a player like him becomes available and he’s in your price range, then you have to take him.

It wasn’t the position they needed to strengthen. I really feel they could have done with a left-back and I think Hugo Bueno leaving was a mistake as I still prefer Rayan Ait-Nouri further forward.

They got Andre in, who is a terrific player, but all of a sudden they have four really good central midfielders.

The old adage is you’ve got to get your best players on the pitch, but I feel that’s worked against Wolves.

O’Neil worked on a very specific system for the majority of pre-season and it didn’t facilitate three, let alone four central midfielders in it.

He switched to a midfield three with Mario Lemina or Joao Gomes slightly higher, but it’s given O’Neil a bit of a problem.

Heading into the Crystal Palace game this weekend, I’m adamant they will play a back four.

I think he’s got to pick his system first and then he’s got to put the best players for those positions in that system.

It’s easier said than done because it’s hard to leave out any of the midfielders, but I really do believe Tommy Doyle has got to start. He deserves to start on credit and personally, I would play Gomes next to him.

He’s an elite ball winner and a fantastic footballer.

I think it’d be a nice balance between him and Tommy Doyle, with Doyle being able to get on the ball and play.

Sarabia will also feel like he deserves to start, but it is tough to drop your captain in Lemina.

I wouldn’t like to be Gary O’Neil this week, picking this team, but it’s better than last season when he didn’t have players to pick from.

It’ll be really interesting to see who he goes with on Saturday.