"They have the spirit" - Wolves boss pleased with second half showing in cup defeat
Vitor Pereira has praised the 'spirit' of his Wolves team for their second half showing in the Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea.
After a disastrous first 45 minutes in which Wolves found themselves 3-0 down, they bagged three second half goals to take the game to the wire, but ultimately were beaten 4-3.
Pereira, who is still fighting to get Wolves back on track this season, has heaped praise on his side for their second half recovery.
He said: "This is one of the best groups in my career because they have the spirit, character, they want to change things, they want to give everything to turn the situation around.
"When you change 11 players from the last game and you take a risk, because we have three games in a very short time, it's my responsibility.
"I decided to do it and give opportunities to players because they are working hard in training and deserve the opportunity.
"But it's very difficult for a team losing 3-0 to come back in the second half and show what they showed. The spirit, the quality, the physicality to score three goals.
"In the second half we won 3-1 and the goal we conceded was a pity.
"We showed that we have the spirit, character and quality. We showed to ourselves and the supporters that together we can do it again, we just need a win to believe and move on."
Pereira was subjected to more 'you're getting sacked in the morning' chants from home supporters as Wolves crumbled early on against Chelsea.
But the head coach is relaxed about the situation and praised the fans for their support, particularly as the team improved on the pitch.
He added: "Believe me, I understand football. This is football.
"I keep with me when they sing my name because we are in the Premier League. We could have been in the Championship if we didn't do the work together with them last season.
"But, this season, we are fighting and fighting and fighting. We need to look at the second half and understand what we can do. This is what we can do in this league.
"We can compete with Chelsea, we can compete with every team. If we play like this, we can compete with them, with confidence and with the energy of our supporters, we can do it.
"We are a small club but we can do it together and this is the message. It's not about me.
"The first half was my responsibility but we changed our tactical organisation, to be more compact and organised to show what we are as a team.
"We showed resilience and the supporters in the second half were fantastic."
Both Matt Doherty and Rodrigo Gomes picked up knocks in the first half, but Pereira was unable to offer a detailed diagnosis and the club will now assess the severity of their injuries.
"We have two problems to Doherty and Rodrigo," Pereira said.
"I don't know if it's serious or not, but it's bad news."
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