George Friend admitted he "thoroughly enjoyed" last night's win against Birmingham in which he made an impressive second start in Wolves colours.

 

The 21-year-old left sided player produced an accomplished display in midfield as part of the encouraging all-round performance which saw the Molineux men progress to a fourth round FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough thanks to a 2-0 win.

 

Since arriving at Wolves from Exeter on September 1, George had come through a difficult debut as the team lost at Swansea in October to perform well as an early substitute in November's win at Sheffield United and then again last night as he completed the 90 minutes at St Andrew's.

 

"To come in and be on a winning team is great," he reflected.

"I thought in the first half we passed the ball really well.

 

"There was a bit of a blip in the second half but we came back strongly towards the end.

 

"Vokesey (Sam Vokes) and (Andy) Keogh took their chances really well and we could have had a couple more goals.

 

"The gaffer had said we needed a win last night and we've done it - hopefully we can do the same against Bristol City on Saturday.

 

"It's good that we came back with a win, the lads that went into the side got their chance and those that were rested will now be pumped up for the weekend.

 

"It was also important we got a clean sheet and I thought the defence did really well."

 

George, who went close to scoring himself in the first half, played down the unwitting'contribution' of referee Howard Webb to Sam's crucial goal, insisting there was still plenty for Wolves to do after Rahdi Jaidi's pass bounced back off the official.

 

"Even though the ball cannoned off the ref there was still a lot to do," he explained.

 

"It was almost in our half and Keogh, Kights and Vokesey all showed great composure on the break to finish off the move."

 

There were also warm words for the Wolves fans as almost 4,000 packed the end behind one of the goals to roar the team on to victory.

"The fans were brilliant and gave us incredible support," George added.

 

"Walking off the coach before the game people were asking me if I was starting which was nice to hear.

 

"Straight from the kick off they got right behind us and it helped me feel more confident."

 

Patience has certainly had to prove a virtue for George and he knows he faces a major challenge to try and win a regular place in the Wolves' first team.

 

But he is happy to be continuing his development within the Molineux ranks and is relishing what lies ahead.

 

"You can only come in and do your best when you get a chance," he said.

 

"I worked as hard as I could last night and put a good shift in.

 

"I always knew I'd have to be patient coming to a club like Wolves.

 

"When I came in we were top of the league and we're still top now - I wasn't going to be able to come and walk into the team.

 

"I'm just grateful to get chances like this and really thoroughly enjoyed myself in the game."

 

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