Vitor Pereira is determined to give the Wolves supporters an ending to be proud of as the Old Gold bring their season to a close against Brentford at Molineux this Sunday.
The head coach wants his players to finish the campaign with three points to reward the Wolves fans for their ‘incredible’ support since the Portuguese has been in charge.
But with striker Jorgen Strand Larsen a doubt for the contest, and Tommy Doyle and Sam Johnstone will both remain on the sidelines, Pereira understands his players will need to be at their best if they are to enter the summer on a high.
On taking Palace lessons into Brentford
“In that game, we made a lot of mistakes – unusual mistakes. To compete in this league, you must defend well and have a good defensive organisation.
“We cannot lose balance when we have the ball, because they are a danger in counter-attack, like Brentford, they are a dangerous team in counter-attack, so we cannot lose our balance, we cannot lose duals, and we must play in our best level to face this kind of team.
“The last four teams [Wolves have played] are teams competing for the European positions. They are strong, they are consistent in the way that they play, and they have the same manager for a long time working with the players in the same club. But this is not about them. It’s about ourselves.”
On ending the season at Molineux
“The last image is important for us, and not only the last image, but I also think the team deserves to finish with a win. But we must prove the quality and that we are mentally there on the pitch because sometimes the mind is looking for the holidays, because they need to rest.
“A lot of them will go to their national teams so it means that there is a short time to rest after the last game, but we need to give one more effort to compete and try to get three points.
“Trying to play a good match to win the game and in the end of the game, to be proud of our work on the pitch and make proud the supporters.”
On thanking the supporters
“I feel proud of everybody because it is about the teamwork. I feel proud about the players, about the staff, all the staff in the club, because we struggled a lot, and we’ve been able to finish the season and keep our position in the Premier League.
“I’m very proud of our supporters because the work that we did together, in my opinion, was incredible work.
“Now we play at home, in front of our supporters, and it is a good time to thank them for their support, because they were fantastic in the last months, and they helped us a lot to turn over the bad situation that we faced. But we did it together.
“Now is the last game, and we will try our best to win the game, to play a good game, and then to thanks them.”
On summer transfer plans
“It's important to bring players that want to come, that want to live in Wolverhampton, that want to play in the best league of the world and that are family players, with the character and with the personality to work in a simple, but beautiful, city.
“The nature is beautiful and the competition, in my opinions, is the best in the world. It means that we must go for players that really want to come as much as me.”
On bringing players to Wolves
“A lot of players are trying to come because they want to play in the Premier League and players that have worked with me.
“In this moment, agents start to send players, a lot of players, and it means that they want to come. But we need with hunger, with a hunger to play here and to achieve something special.
“Everything you do in this league, the impact is huge. It is a world impact, and this is what we can attract them with; with the league and with the people, because I like the people. I like the people here, because they are a bit like me, simple, and I like simple people.”
