6th November 2017
Man-of-the-match Barry Douglas was delighted to see hard work on the training ground translate into results on the pitch as Wolves picked up another three Sky Bet Championship points by beating Fulham at Molineux at Friday evening.
Both of the hosts' goals in the 2-0 win came from sublime Douglas dead-ball deliveries - headers from Romain Saiss and Leo Bonatini within the opening half an hour.
Afterwards, the full-back admitted that particular focus had been put on making the most of such chances in training.
"We do work hard at set pieces because we know that they can sometimes be the difference," Douglas said. "Today we dominated but probably didn't create as many clear cut chances as we could have, so thankfully the set pieces went for us.
"I'm always confident when we get a set piece in a good area. We have the guys that can score from those situations, so I know that if I put the ball in the right area we've got a chance. It's nice to have a variety of ways in which we can score - that takes the pressure off the forward guys.
"As long as they go in, we're not too fussy about how our goals come. I think tonight we controlled the game, and on another day could have had more."
Despite playing a key role in attacking areas, Douglas also stressed the importance of the clean sheet that Nuno Espirito Santo's men earned - their eighth in the league this season.
He continued: "It's always nice to get recognition but first and foremost it's about the team and getting the win.
"Overall it's a pleasing result - we know we need to be tight at the back, be compact and that at times we might need to weather a storm. It's up to us to not concede so that the forward guys can do what they do.
"I thought we did that well tonight - we were under pressure a few times but without conceding any dangerous chances, then we took our chances at the other end."
Ahead of the weekend's other fixtures, the victory guaranteed that Wolves top the Championship going into the international break, however Douglas says the players won't allow themselves to think beyond the next game.
"We know the quality we have, but we can't get too carried away - we take it one game at a time," he added. "The pressure is on us being at the top of the table, so it's up to us to keep producing and to get better and better.
"It's nice to have some down time now, particularly after the games have come thick and fast in recent weeks. It's important that we take advantage of the few days we have, have a rest and then get some good training in and prepare well for our next game."
