After playing for most of the game with ten men following the sending off of Danny Batth in the 14th minute, Wolves showed great resolve to ultimately win the game 2-1 at Ashton Gate.
Speaking after the game, Ryan Bennett, who came on as a substitute following the dismissal of the Wolves skipper, said that the win was a huge statement of the club’s quality and character.
“It is a big statement, everyone knows that,” Bennett said.
“It shows the togetherness we've got as well. Day in, day out, people don't really see, but around the training ground the respect everyone has for everyone, that's lads who are or aren't playing and the younger lads as well and all the staff.
“I think there's a massive togetherness and it shows out there in situations when you are down and you've got 10 men, everyone pulls together.
“You come in the changing room at the end and it's a nice atmosphere and it continues to be that throughout the season.
“I keep referring to the coaches we've got but there's no way they're going to let us rest from now until the end of the season.
“Hopefully we can press on and get as many points as we can.
“It was a massive result. We knew before the game – and we spoke about it when we were going through how we wanted to go about things – it's not easy when things don't go to plan, with 10 men.
“A lot of credit to the lads, we dug in, especially the forward players who did a lot of work out there.
“We dug in, kept it 0-0 as long as we could, we were disappointed we conceded the goal, but the lads kept going and when it to 10 v 10 I thought there was only one team going on to win it. Fortunately we did that.”
Bennett started the game on the bench for the first time since October but came on to the pitch in the 15th minute.
The hosts took the lead in the 54th minute but the game turned again as Frank Fielding was sent off for Bristol.
Barry Douglas scored from the resulting free kick and the game looked to be heading for a draw.
But in the 94th minute, Bennett himself headed home a Douglas free kick to claim all three points.
Bennett admitted that he was disappointed to be left out of the side but he was delighted to score the winning goal.
“That's football, that's what it's like. No one wants to come out the team but we've got the squad we got, it's going to happen.
“At the end of the day it's bigger than me, it's bigger than any individual player.
“Obviously I want to play but at the same time I want to see the team winning, I'm part of a team.
“Coming on after 15 minutes isn't the easiest thing to do sometimes, it takes you a bit of a while to get going.
“With the staff we've got, you have conversations with Julio before the game and they're keeping your mind on track, telling you things that sometimes you need to hear.
“He said things to me before that reaped rewards during the game.
“I heard the defender say he was going to stay in the middle of the goal with the two others.
"I said to Willy before – you knew Baz was going to shoot from there – you go across the front and if it's short you get a nick on it, I'll go round the back, if it goes long or wide I can hopefully be there to put it in. Fortunately I was.
“It was a long time coming – the ball seemed to be floating for a long time!
“When you see it going in the back of the night there's no better feeling.
“We had a lot of fans there who were brilliant all night, even when we were down to 10 men losing 1-0.
“It's a good way for them to go home.”
Wolves are back in action this evening as they face Brentford at Molineux (7:45pm).
