Kenny Jackett admitted it was another frustrating afternoon at Molineux as Wolves failed to make the most of a series of chances against Rotherham, and set an ‘unwanted’ record of four successive goalless draws at home.
Dave Edwards was inches away from finding the net in the first half, Joe Mason's flick came off the crossbar, and Jed Wallace had a shot cleared off the line in the second before Sylvain Deslandes headed a corner narrowly wide in time added on.
Ultimately though it was another blank at both ends for Wolves as the game finished 0-0.
“I thought the motivation of the players was good,” said Jackett.
“I know their characters and I know their age – they want to do well, they are desperate to do well.
“It is not a case of motivation, it is actually being able to do it.
“We created a lot of clear cut chances today, more than we have done lately, and played some good football, but ultimately the game is about scoring goals.
“And here at Molineux we have not scored enough.
“The boys at the back did very well, and I felt there were two excellent centre back performances in Batth and Iorfa.
“It is the first time they have played together and there was a lot of promise in their performances.
“But four goalless draws in a row at Molineux is not what we want – that is obviously an unwanted record.
“It is better than losing games but it is frustrating.
“It isn’t where we want to be, or what we set out for, and we definitely want to be better.
“We played some good football today, especially through James Henry, and had good build-up and got into good positions but ultimately we didn’t put the chances away.
“You need that to maintain and then improve players’ confidence levels and lift the crowd.
“Joe Mason got into some good positions and when the goals go in for him his confidence will lift and that is what happens to most goalscorers.
“We want to be solid but we have to be more than that as well.”
Jackett revealed after the game that Adam Le Fondre had missed out with a muscle injury and Bjorn Sigurdarson’s absence was down to selection.
He did give opportunities to young pair Sylvain Deslandes and Bright Enobakhare, making their first league starts at Molineux.
“We played a left back who is 18 and one of the three forwards is 17,” said Jackett.
“We want to be competitive and we want to win and we also want to give players opportunities.
“I felt we wanted to attack more from full back than we did against Leeds so I decided to bring Iorfa inside and then look to Doherty and Deslandes to improve our service.
“Sylvain, at 18, has a good future and also with Bright, at 17, it will be interesting to see how he develops now.
“He has played nine times this season and for a youth player that is a good total.
“Hopefully those lads can now build for the future from these games and for us, we can find the right mix and the winning equation which is what everyone is looking for, and at home in particular.
“They need to go and work away in the summer and come back stronger because the Championship is a very powerful division.
“That will happen naturally with those players because of their ages and similarly with Iorfa, at 20, who was very good at right centre half today.
“They all have to come back better and come back stronger.”
The Head Coach was also asked if he considered making further substitutions with the returning Jed Wallace for Enobakhare the only change made.
“I understand there is frustration but I had confidence in the players right the way through to the end,” said Jackett.
“Of the players that would have had to come off – Edwards and Saville have both been scoring goals, Wallace had just gone on, Mason is our recognised striker and had been getting chances.
“And I thought Henry was our best player.
“So taking any of those off I didn’t think would have been the right option.”
Wolves have two Sky Bet Championship games now remaining, away at Nottingham Forest next Saturday and then home to Sheffield Wednesday, when the team will be hoping to finish the season in a positive fashion.
“It is very important to play well in our final game of the season,” added Jackett.
“I feel that as a Head Coach every single game and that is always our intention.”
