Podence | Next two matches 'the biggest of the season'

Heading to St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday off the back of a morale boosting victory over Liverpool and with their next two opponents currently in the drop zone, Wolves’ joint top scorer understands expectation among supporters will be high. But Podence - who found the net as Wolves won against the Saints earlier this season - also acknowledges that three points are never guaranteed and the players will have to produce a display as good as the last one at Molineux if they are to continue their climb up the Premier League table.

On a positive week at Compton

“It’s very good because when you are winning, everything is so much easier and everything is going in the right way. But we lost 3-0 against City, and not everything was bad, and now after a 3-0 win against Liverpool, not everything is excellent, so we have to manage the expectations.

“If City and Liverpool were big, big matches, I think Southampton and Bournemouth will be even bigger because in our position in the league and their position, three points means much more than just three points.”

On tough tests against the Saints and Cherries

“They are the biggest games of the season. Our expectations is to beat them because we are in a good moment after a good moment against Liverpool, so of course, you have to beat Southampton, but football isn’t always like that so we have to manage this kind of expectations.

“For us as players, it’s very difficult because everyone around us is telling us good things because we beat Liverpool, but it’s a really tough game on Saturday and we have to win.

“Of course, the fans will be there for us and try to help us, and we will try to give everything for them and for the club, but it’s still a tough week to play.”

On still having work to do

“We are still not in that position of relief because we are so close to those last positions, but we are also so close of the higher positions. It’s very easy to go from the 7^th position to the 14^th.

“If Leeds would have won at United last night, we could have been even lower in the table, so we have to fight for the three points but we hope in the next two or three months to do so much better.

“We are still finding a new way of playing under the new manager and he brought in some very good stuff for us and that’s why we are showing a different character and a different football. He brought competitiveness, a different mentality of running back and forward, of fighting for every ball, so I’m a stronger player now. I hope he keeps me doing the same job and of course the goals and everything are related, so I want to continue in this way to help the team and the manager.”

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— Wolves (@Wolves) February 8, 2023

On an unpredictable Premier League

“When I first came, we were in the Europa League and even last year we were so, so close to the Champions League and from six or seven matches that we lost, we ended up in the middle of the table and we were not expecting these kinds of things this year.

“But the Premier League is very unpredictable. You can see that from Chelsea and Liverpool, West Ham and us, it’s very difficult and I think that’s why everyone loves the Premier League because you don’t expect these kinds of things. We were in a bad situation and now we are doing so much better, and we hope to continue in this way, to reach higher positions.”

On experience being adding to the squad

“It’s very important for every team in the Premier League to have players with experience and character. It’s different when you are so young and you come to the Premier League, which is so difficult – the toughest league in the world, and you don’t expect to play so many hard games against so many competitive players.

“That was our difficulty at the start of the season, because we have a lot of quality, but we had no experience. That has changed now with Craig [Dawson] and Mario [Lemina], even with Pablo [Sarabia] who has come in too. We’re talking about people who have played more than 10 years in professional football at a high level who are now in our squad.

“To reach good things, we really need that mentality and experience. In the past, we had that experience with Conor [Coady], we had Romain [Saiss], we had a lot of people and we kind of missed that experience, but now we are in a good way.”