Rob Edwards stressed he will ensure his Wolves players fully understand how much Sunday’s match against Aston Villa will mean to the Old Gold supporters.
Having grown up in the West Midlands and represented both clubs as a player, Edwards knows full well how important three points and a positive performance at Villa Park this weekend will be to the fans.
And after having his first uninterrupted week on the Compton Park training pitches with his squad ahead of Sunday’s 2.05pm kick-off, the Wolves head coach is determined to translate the supporters’ passion into his players.
On having a full week of training
“It’s been a smoother week having a full run and some consistency. Working with the players last week was fine, but it was a little bitty, because every day there were more players arriving back. I think we started with around 13 and then finished with probably 22 by the end of Friday, so it’s been an easier week because we’ve had a consistent group to work with.
“Matt Doherty’s been training well throughout the week. Today was really the first full session that he joined into, so it’s probably a bit too soon for this weekend, but we’ll see as he’s still got another day tomorrow.
“Other than that, there’s one or two with bumps and bruises and little knocks, as you expect at this stage, and with a full week’s training I was trying to raise the intensity a little bit as well, but there’s a fairly healthy group there.”
On what needs to improve
“Everything. There were a lot of tactical things we need to improve on, we need to fix some decisions from individuals, and all the way from top to bottom there’ll be things that we can fix, and we’ve tried to this week, and that will continue to be the case for a while, because it’s not just a really quick fix. Some things you can [fix quickly] and some things are habits that we need to try to adjust
“But we also saw some good stuff from our work, in terms of intensity, of how we work, but there’s still more that we need to improve. We need to be able to move together at the same speed, a little bit quicker, and we need to have more energy, both when we’re without the ball, but also when we win the ball back.
“We’re looking to try and bring more intensity into our game on both sides of the ball. But it wasn't all bad, there's lots that we need to do to try and fix, but that’s why we’re here. We know that, we recognise it, and the players understand it and are really working hard to try and rectify one or two things.”
On keeping the belief
“It’s something that we can only give ourselves with performance levels and how hard we work, and then hopefully we can find the results from that. But again, it’s not just something you can click your fingers and just find straight away
“It’s all well and good me talking about being brave and believing in yourselves, not worrying about making mistakes, reacting to them and trying to almost humanise making mistakes, now we’re going to have to dig ourselves out and find that ourselves. No one’s going to give us it.
“I’ve spoken about having a realism as well. We’ve come into a really difficult situation, and of course, there’s a belief there that if we can work the right way, and we can do it every day, that we can dig ourselves out of this really tough position that we're in. But also, there’s a realism to it that it’s never been done before.
“All we can do is concentrate on our work every day and then try to perform as well as we can – which we will do – in the games. We want to achieve something incredible. I want to give people belief and give people hope, but I understand the position we’re in.”
Taking on Villa on Sunday. ⏳ pic.twitter.com/cwyS3VClfG
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 26, 2025
On taking on Aston Villa
“I’m expecting a really difficult game, but it’s a midlands derby, so I want us to play with real pride, and it needs to reflect in the performance as well. We’re going up against a really good Villa side, who are now six or seven games in a row that they’ve won at home, and Villa Park is always a difficult place to go.
“It’s going to be a really difficult game but this is a really special game as well, especially for people that live in this area. They know, they understand, and I know and I understand it as well.
“These are two clubs that I’ve represented – I know what it means to both sets of supporters, and especially to our fans, I know what it means to them, so I want us to go out there and give it our all and put on a really strong performance.”
On players understanding the importance of a derby
“I can try and get it across to them how much it will mean to the supporter. We’ve got a lot of passionate players, we’ve got a lot of players who do care, and I do think they showed that last week, and they’ll show that going forward.
“The players are still from Earth, and obviously they still have derbies wherever they’re from. But they understand, and they care, and you can try and tap into some of that with their experiences from where they’re from as well.
“I’ll stress that, but then once we go over the line, it’s down to the players to go and show that spirit, that heart and show that they care.”
