Gary O’Neil is looking forward to taking his Wolves side down to Brighton & Hove Albion and seeing how they’ll cope against one of the division’s stronger sides in recent years.
The Seagulls won on O’Neil’s Molineux debut as Wolves head coach back in August, but the Old Gold have improved significantly since then, thanks in part to the togetherness instilled in the group. On Monday they travel to Sussex with a five-match unbeaten run to their name and O’Neil is looking forward to seeing how his side cope with the challenge.
On relishing Monday’s challenge
“I look forward to every game, but when you come up against a top coach and a top side, it’s always really good to see where we are and what we can achieve. It will be a good test, they’re very good at what they do, and have been doing it for quite a long time now. Even before Roberto went in there, they had a similar way of playing, Brighton have been on this journey for quite a while now, progressive coaches and trying to dominate the ball.
“Of course, Roberto has freshened it up and improved it even more. Impressive again to keep it going this year, having sold a lot of talent in the summer, similar to ourselves. Us and them are the two sides which made the most profit in the summer from player sales, so it’s impressive that they’ve managed to keep it going.
“The lads will be looking forward to it. There will be spells which are tough for us, so we’ll watch the players and see how well we can respond and how good we are at making sure we have some dominant spells in the game. I’m looking forward to it, it’ll be a test, but we’re in a decent spot, five unbeaten now in all competitions. Going away and adding another away win in the Premier League is always special, because they’re so hard to come by.”
On growing since the last Brighton game
“It’ll be another tough test. I think back to the last game and there was loads of chances for both teams. Brighton took theirs and we missed all of ours, and the game got away from us in a ten-minute spell. The performance was nowhere near as bad as the result made it look. With chances created, it was probably quite an entertaining game until your side’s 4-0 down with half an hour left and it’s slightly less entertaining.
“Looking forward to it, a big test against one of the best managers around. Incredibly well coached side, know what they’re doing, very difficult to stop, especially at the Amex, they’re a very good side there. They’ve beaten some big teams there already, so it will be a tough test, but I am looking forward to taking the lads down there and seeing what we can produce.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 18, 2024
On the togetherness in the group
“It’s a consistency of messages, making sure that we remind the lads when they fall away from what we expect and what the group needs from them. There’s no magic wand and I’m not saying they weren’t like that already; it was just little bits that I saw of them where I thought we could improve the togetherness, making sure we understand what it looks like to be part of a team.
“If things are going well, how do we behave? If you’re having a tough time, the team still needs you and there needs to be a way you still get to your level. How we respond to setbacks and difficult situations. It’s still probably not where I’d like it to be, as it always is, and I wasn’t perfect either when I played, still suffering moments of disappointment and how you react isn’t always perfect, but the lads are doing really well.
“To go behind twice the other night and fight back, people wanting to stay on near the end, the amount of work that went into getting us through shows were the lads are. The test is consistency, we have to dust ourselves down and recover, and go and show resilience. Brighton can make you suffer, they have the ball for a long time, so going down there will be a good test mentally and of where we are as a team.”
