Dave Edwards: Wolves should take heart from friendlies

Both performances have been full of players that want to be at the football club and really work hard. The intensity they’re playing at is very good and they look fit.

I was at the Luton game and although they didn’t get a goal, they could quite easily have got five or six throughout the game with the chances they created.

I know it’s pre-season and the Premier League will be different – and they were playing a Luton team that everyone expects to struggle this year – but Wolves were far superior in every aspect.

They created a lot more than what they were at times last year. The time on the training pitch has been used wisely, with the manager looking at playing it forward.

When he came in last year it was about clean sheets, which ultimately kept them in the league, but hopefully they can evolve now and we can see more attacking phases of play.

We saw that in the Luton game, they just missed the final touch. Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic were both terrific up front, Matt Doherty looked good too.

Going into the Rennes game and there were more good individual performances. They pressed intensely and found their clinical edge.

Rayan Ait-Nouri with a terrific volley. Joao Gomes’s goal was really well worked and he showed an abundance of composure, and Hwang’s goal at the end was a really good team move.

Overall, that performance will give those players a lot of confidence going into next week.

I’ve been impressed with the work rate, intensity and pressure. They also look dangerous off set pieces again.

There’s a lot of players that have done well in these two games and will be desperate to start at Old Trafford. Lopetegui will have some big decisions to make.

I think he’ll stick to the 4-4-1-1 formation, with two narrow banks of four out of possession, with the number 10 dropping in to help the midfield.

It’s set up perfectly for the counter-attack. Wolves have done that better in these last two games, whereas last year they were too slow and ponderous.

Nuno was successful with counter-attacking football and we’ve seen signs of that again in pre-season. If Wolves are to be successful this season, I think that’s how they’ll win games. Be more pragmatic in defence and have that pace and forceful running when they win the ball back.