James Collins believes Wolves’ performance, particularly in the first half at Stamford Bridge, shows this group shouldn’t be written off.
The Old Gold were beaten for a ninth time in 11 Premier League matches, this time under the interim charge of Collins and Richard Walker, but he saw enough in the spirit and commitment to believe Wolves can still salvage their season.
In the opening 45 minutes Wolves frustrated their hosts and went in level at the break, but Chelsea upped their game and took the points from there, however Collins saw a group of players with the spirit and togetherness which is needed in a relegation battle.
On a frustrating outcome at Chelsea
“I thought first half we showed real spirit. The boys stuck to the game plan, we probably could have done a bit better with the ball, but we’ve done a lot of work this week out if possession and I thought you could see that. Maybe with the ball we were a bit loose in the first half, but we had something to build from.
“Second half the first goal really knocked us. What it did do was allow us to be a bit better in possession because the boys played a bit more out of structure, which made the game a bit more open, but the danger is you leave yourself open at the back and they’re a good side, so took their chances.”
On a base to build from
“Most definitely, with the spirit the boys showed, even at the end of the game when Joao was pressing at the top end of the pitch, having a right go at getting the ball back. The boys are low on confidence for obvious reasons, but there’s a spirit in there, there’s a connection in there, and they’ve got to build on that, and grab hold of that. That’s step one and we’ve got to do better attacking and defending better. That’s the basics of the game.”
On believing in the group
“My main message would be this group isn’t a group to give up on this season. This group can get something out of this season because there’s a togetherness and they want to do it so much. If the structure’s put in place, if the organisation is put in place, and work is done with them, they can improve and improve. Maybe with some additions in January we can get out of trouble.”
On not capitalising on possession
“I felt that the shackles came off a bit as the boys thought we were behind, but we didn’t quite hold our structure, and we created some moments, we got on top a bit, and that was our foothold in the game, but I always knew the back door was open at the other end. They counter attacked brilliantly.
“When you come to a place like this, you have to keep it tight. I think they’ve scored in 25 out of the last 26 games. I thought we did that first half without offering enough in attack, but the spirit they showed, the boys worked for each other, they connected, and we got moments of pressure, but it’s hard to do that for 90 minutes. You’ve got to give a little bit more going the other way, and the goal forced us to do that, and I thought we played better football, and the game became more open. The objective is to do both – defend tight, connected, but offer a bit more going forward.”
