Wolves' hope for academy ahead of squad rebuild

Edwards is now keen to help more players progress from the academy, as he challenges the next batch of young stars to take their chance.

“At any club I’m working at, an academy has to be an important part of it," Edwards said.

“Whether players are playing, or in the matchday squad, they are still playing a big part, because we’re using the young lads in training quite a lot so they can have quite a big part of the working week with us.

“If you can produce one or two players a season – which is big pressure and hard to do – you’re doing incredible work.

“We would love that to be the case going forward.

“Then the pressure is on the young players because they have got to be good enough and we can’t just hand debuts and appearances out.

“A lot of my coaching staff have been on development pathways and have developed young players, and nothing would please us more than to keep doing that.

“There’s a lot of great work going on at that academy building and we’re seeing the fruits of some of that real hard work now.

“Then it will be down to those young lads to make it happen, knock on the door, do well in training and impress them."

Edwards' willingness to give academy players a chance has been evident by a number of them being named on the bench in the Premier League, when his small senior squad is hit with injuries or suspensions.

The head coach hopes his desire to hand out deserved opportunities will inspire the next generation at Wolves.

“We’ve got a strong academy with heck of a lot of work going into a younger players and they are doing a really good job," Edwards added.

“I think as well as Edozie and Mane, there are others too.

“It’s nice for those youngsters in the academy building to see it is possible with a lot of hard work and perseverance.

“It gives them a bit of inspiration."