'Classic idea' - Cesar Peixoto identifies area Wolves need to focus on

Cesar Peixoto believes Wolves will continue to learn how to adapt to the different challenges of the Championship and collectively improve their performances.

After taking seven points from their first three league fixtures, a 4-2 defeat at West Ham was followed by Sunday’s 2-2 derby day draw against Birmingham City at a fired-up St Andrew’s.

Wolves had the better of the first half against their local rivals but then found themselves largely pushed back in the second, unable to play the sort of attractive and attacking football which Peixoto desires.

“We know that Birmingham is a classic idea of the game from the Championship,” he said. “Direct, first ball, second ball, cross, set pieces. We knew what to expect.

“It's more difficult because their physicality is very intense and they have a lot of all players – we want to try and play the game that we want and not the game that they want, but in some moments we are not able to do that.

“It was a difficult game and not the best game, but we have to stay together. We will stay organised and fight with the effort of the players.”

Wolves have conceded 10 goals in their first five fixtures of the Championship season, an average of two a game. But Peixoto believes that statistic is about more than just the defence and that the whole team needs to improve.

“When we concede goals, I don’t look only for the defence,” he insisted. “I think it's a collective behaviour. If you don't press well in the first line of pressure, the ball can come more easily and it becomes more difficult to the midfielder, or more difficult to the full back. It’s a collective behaviour which we have to improve.

“We have to stay more compact sometimes, and we have to stay with the mental stability to go to pressure in the right triggers. But that was difficult against Birmingham because direct balls, first and second ball, in set pieces, they are a strong team in the set pieces.

“The plan for us is always to play more with the ball, but Sunday’s game wasn’t our best game with the ball, and we didn’t have the time or space to play.

“It was a game typical from the Championship, and it can happen more times, these kinds of games. We have to learn about that and improve to stay better in the next game.”