Jorgen Strand Larsen admitted the Wolves players did not show what they are capable of against Crystal Palace on Tuesday night and got what they deserved from the 4-2 Premier League defeat.
The Norwegian striker marked his return to the starting 11 following injury by getting a goal and an assist in Wolves’ final away game of the season at Selhurst Park, however, with a display littered by defensive slip-ups against the FA Cup champions, Strand Larsen’s efforts were in vain.
After their record-breaking winning run in April, Tuesday evening’s defeat now leaves the Old Gold going into their final match of the campaign at home to Brentford on Sunday looking to stop a string of three successive losses and finish the season on a high.
On defeat at Selhurst Park
“It feels like we didn't really show up today. For some parts of the game we were the better team, but in the end we lost, and it was deserved.
“That’s what my feelings are right now, and we’re not proud of our performance.
“You can’t always play perfect, but we need to learn from what we’ve done and I think we made some mistakes when we conceded the goals, but that can happen, and we tried to come back in the game, but they’re good at contract attacks and scored from them.”
On falling behind after taking the lead
“First of all, we started ok in the first 20 minutes, we scored a goal, but after that, we needed to be more cautious.
“Football in the Premier League is going fast and you need to make sure during the next 10 minutes that you don’t concede, and we ended up conceding two, which is the worst scenario possible, but we only had ourselves to blame.”
On second half alterations
“The gaffer did some changes in the half-time, and also did some changes on the [tactics] board and I think we came out as a better team.
“Although we got really unlucky on the third goal, which summed up our day today, and that was unlucky.”
On a goal and an assist on his return
“It was nice to be back, of course, as I’ve been struggling a little bit lately, so couldn’t finish the whole game, unfortunately.
“I was hoping to stay out as I wanted to score another and get us back into the game, but I had to listen to my body today.
“It’s always nice to play in the starting 11 for Wolverhampton and I’m really proud of that, but I need to take care of my body first.”
