Dean Saunders backing Wolves to silence critics

The Molineux supremo launched an uncompromising attack on the under-achieving squad yesterday in the wake of the alarming slump.

It sees Wolves languishing in fourth bottom and just two points above the safety line, facing the prospect of a second successive relegation.

But boss Saunders believes another performance like they produced at Leicester eight days ago will kickstart a revival to lift the team away from the Championship drop zone.

Saunders believes the players remain shackled by a long-term losing mentality but has seen enough signs of progress to stress that Wolves are on the verge of turning the corner.

"We're making progress," said the boss. "We could have won all my four games, but we just missed chances.

"We just have to concentrate on ourselves – to go to Leicester and create as many chances as we did showed some good signs, and there was something to work on.

"All you can do is set the team up to make chances to score and then it's in the lap of the gods. If the chances go in, we'd be laughing.

"We didn't create much at Sheffield Wednesday, which we drew 0-0, although we were resolute. And it's been proved to be difficult against them because they've won twice since.

"At Leicester, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake had two chances, Bjorn Sigurdarson and Danny Batth had one each, and Bakary Sako had a couple of half chances."

Saunders believes Wolves' display at Leicester was the best since he took charge – summed up by Bakary Sako's stunning equaliser.

"It started with Carl Ikeme and went right through the team," he said. "Carl rolled it to Kevin Foley and got it back, they passed it to Jamie O'Hara, who gave it to Tongo Doumbia then Sako – it was a brilliant goal.

"And when you look through the team, they all did well but we just got done by two counter attacks.

"We had them pinned in for most of the second half and they're supposed to be one of the best teams." Saunders however acknowledges defensive errors continue to undo the good work Wolves are putting in going forwards.

That was perfectly illustrated at the King Power Stadium, when Anthony Knockhaert and David Nugent both scored after running unchallenged from a long way out.

The manager is convinced the current problems are still a hangover from the last two or three years. "It's the losing mentality – it's hard to shrug it off and you forget how to win," said Saunders.

"Me telling them what to do and it working on the pitch gives them belief, and me pointing things out that are wrong and putting them right gives them confidence, and then winning games."

Saunders added: "At Leicester, we got done twice on the counter attack, but I think that was a case of not having all the things nailed down yet.

"We spoke about our two midfielders not getting ahead of the ball, but Jamie O'Hara crossed the ball out on the right wing and Karl Henry was left stranded in the middle.

"We were playing that well that I think we got a bit over confident. They went straight down the other end through Nugent and scored.

"You have to put a tackle in – it's the first thing you're taught at school when you're a defender.

"I'll just have to go over it with them again. So it's about confidence.

"But when you're winning, it seems like everything you do is going to work – you think 'I'll nick that ball' and you nick it and 'I'll head this ball' and you get there."