Wolves boss Cesar Peixoto explains why Fer Lopez is better than Jarrod Bowen

Wolves boss Cesar Peixoto reckons Fer Lopez is a better player than Jarrod Bowen as two of the Championship’s finest prepare to meet on Tuesday night.

West Ham skipper Bowen is considered by many the best in the second tier having remained with the Hammers following their relegation from the Premier League.

But Peixoto, when asked to compare the England international with Lopez, claimed his own player will always be No.1 in his view.

Lopez has enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign, scoring two goals and setting up two more in the first three Championship fixtures.

Asked if it was fair to bill Tuesday’s match as a meeting between two of the division’s best players: “Fer is better, because he is my player! For me my player is always the better one.

“For me, it’s clear like that and I don’t compare them because Fer is better, with all due respect to the player from West Ham.”

Bowen v Lopez is just one of several storylines in a match between the bookies’ favourites for automatic promotion.

It will also pit Peixoto against former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, his one-time team-mate at Porto more than two decades ago.

Nuno is already under pressure with the Hammers having taken just two points from their first three matches.

But while the fixture is comfortably the toughest so far on paper, for both clubs, Peixoto is eager to play down any hype.

“For me, it’s just another game,” he said. “I will analyse West Ham like I analysed Stoke. It will be more difficult because they have more quality and they’re a better team.

“It’s true I played with Nuno, but now he’s on the opposite side so I want to win the game.

“I will try to build a team to get the three points, like I do for all the games.

“West Ham will be more difficult, but I think we have the capacity to fight for three points.”

The scheduling of the match in the final hours of the transfer window is hardly ideal, yet Peixoto insists his focus will be firmly on what happens on the pitch.

“That (the transfer window) is for other people in the club,” he said. “For me, it’s the players, the strategy for the game and about trying to win the game.”

A large part of the head coach’s focus will be reducing the number of chances his team are conceding.

Impressive though Wolves were in attack during Saturday’s 4-1 over Stoke, they were also fortunate Potters’ forward Sorba Thomas missed two big chances in the first half.

“We have to work on our organisation – we have a lot to improve,” said Peixoto.

“We don’t play alone – other teams have the quality to play and the quality to find the spaces to manipulate our team to score and create chances.

“But the important thing is for the players to understand what we have to do.

“Sometimes it’s about time and space – the right time to switch, the right time to go.

“It’s something we’re working on, to stay more compact and be better in our organisation.

“But at this stage of the season, we’re at a good level.”