The boyhood Wolves supporter and interim assistant James Collins will lead the side at home for the first time this weekend, with a game which kicks off a run of seven matches in the next four weeks – including five at Molineux. But despite not knowing how long he will be at the helm, Davis is concentrating on making sure the side can return to winning ways as soon as possible by earning a positive result against Forest.
On keeping the squad focused
“All I’ve been doing is focusing on getting us some points and a good performance tomorrow. That’s the remit and that’s the direction that we’re taking at the moment. It’s been easy for us as coaches. James and I have really just got on with what we’ve needed to do. We’re experienced coaches, we know things have to be right and organised and professional, so that’s how we’ve conducted ourselves over the last two weeks.
“We’ve not really looked at the outside and been interested in things that are happening away from the club, we’ve just worried about what’s happening inside. And inside, there’s still a good feeling, there’s a positive feeling about everybody, spirits are high considering the position, and that’s important. We need to keep that spirit in fruition, and obviously we’re all looking forwards to tomorrow.
“We’re trying to keep players positive, which we’ve managed to do over the last couple of weeks, and we’ve looked into things we can improve and there’s, without doubt, things we have to improve if we are to climb the league and we need to get some points. But we’re working hard on the areas where we think we can get better and, like any team that’s not picking up results, not scoring goals, we have to do that.
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— Wolves (@Wolves) October 13, 2022
On managing at Molineux
“The first week was probably a bit surreal with regards to the situation, but this week, the realisation has kicking in a little bit more. I’ve still got lots of pride, but what comes with pride is results.
“However hard you work in the week, the outcome is the most important thing, and that’s what happens in the games on the Saturday. I’d have more pride if we can get some results.”
On an important clash with Forest
“Every game’s important. The way the league looks at the moment, it puts a bit more on the game, but every game, we want to change the result, we want to improve our performances and be more of a threat in the games. That’s something we’ve worked to improve on and we’re seeing signs of it, and we’re hoping that can be tomorrow.
“But every game is crucial, every game is important and this game, obviously because of the state of the two teams and where they are at the moment, they’re both battling for points and trying to turn form around and get some wins, it puts more of an emphasis on it – but it’s no different to any other game.
“We know how difficult points are in this league. For me, it’s the best league in the world, no-one’s going to give you them, you’ve got to work hard for them, you’ve got to earn them, and I emphasized that today in the meeting about how we can do that and how we can change and affect things ourselves. It’s not just going to happen, we’ve got to affect it by the way we are, and we’ve got to try and change our fortune around by being better, and that’s the message for tomorrow.”
On seeing players return
“The medium and long-term injuries have stayed the same, but there’s only about four or five who are struggling at the moment and the rest are back. Bouba’s [Traore] back from illness, and there is a slight illness to Guedes which is the reason he came off in the game, so he was struggling a little bit, but he’s ok and recovering from that, so we’re not too bad.
“Diego covered more minutes than we thought at Chelsea, so we’d be hopeful that he can continue those sorts of minutes or maybe more. It depends how hard we push him and what the live data is during the game.
“We can look at that during the game and can assess how long we push him for. It’s important we don’t push him too hard too soon, as there is no-one else available to play in that position at the moment, so it’s important we keep our focal point fit.”
On a busy run of fixtures
“I think the games leading up to the World Cup are important and then you have that long break. We’ve got an opportunity with five home games to make the most of those games. We’ve got to make Molineux a fortress, which it always is, we’ve got to be tough to beat and the opportunity with those four home games is there.
“We have to look at this week, we have to look at tomorrow first and foremost because that’s the most important thing, but we also have an eye on Tuesday and Sunday. We’ve got players coming back now and the squad’s looking healthier, so we’ve got to look at the starting 11 for tomorrow, they’ll be in for a day to recover and then we’ll look at Palace on Tuesday and what will be required to get something in that game as well.
“Obviously, also having four games in London in a month is a difficult task, as it’s always difficult to go down there, but as long as we keep spirits high, keep battling hard and keep working on the training ground, then we’ll be doing everything we can to turn things around.
💦 @maxkilman 💦 pic.twitter.com/nbBUubAdI5
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 13, 2022
On being confident in front of goal
“Our build-up has been excellent, if I’m looking at stats, it’s until we get to that final third. It’s about getting bodies in the box, getting people forward, getting us to be confident and shooting more, rebounding, and getting players to anticipate the opportunities.
“And when they have come along, we haven’t made great decisions, so the decision making is really important in the final third. We’ve worked a bit on that this week, we’re trying to get numbers in the areas we need it, but we need to make sure the structure behind the tactics are right as well. Every game has a different analysis, so we’re doing what we can and the players are responding excellently to the work we are doing.
“Confidence comes with performance and with results. If they can react to the work and the things that we’re doing, the confidence changes. Then suddenly, you’re looking at a different situation going into the next game.”
