Cesar Peixoto believes the work he has carried out with his Wolves players in pre-season is going to help the team hit the ground running in their Championship opener against Blackburn Rovers.
The Old Gold begin their first league season in the second tier for nine years on Friday evening, with Peixoto set for his first taste of the division having taken over the Molineux head coach role earlier in the summer.
But with a good pre-season of preparation under his belt with his players, the Portuguese is confident the team has what it takes to get off to the best possible start in their quest to achieve their overall aims this year.
On being ready for the Championship
“Yes, I’m ready. We’ve worked very hard during pre-season, and I think we’ve had a great pre-season. All the players have worked very, very hard and they understand what I want from them. I’m ready and confident going into the first game.
“Football is football, whether it’s in Portugal or England, but there are different characteristics to the game here. We’ve watched, observed and analysed the Championship. We did that work before I came to the club, so we know what to expect.
“It’s going to be a tough season with good teams, but we’re prepared to fight for the three points game after game and week after week. We know what we want from the team and we know what our big goal is. We’re going to work very hard and fight to achieve that goal.”
The beginning of a historic campaign. 150 years of Wolverhampton Wanderers. pic.twitter.com/6wCcFTTxbY
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 13, 2026
On opening against Blackburn on Friday night
“I’m going to try to win every game. It’s good for us that we start at home, and that’s why I’ve spoken about the fans being so important. I want the fans to support these players because they’ve worked very, very hard during pre-season and they worked very hard in our last game. We’re confident, but we need everyone’s support tomorrow. It will be a tough game, but we’ll go into it with confidence and fight for the three points.
“Blackburn are a good team. They’re good with the ball and have a lot of good dynamics. But I think this game is more about us than the opposition. We have to show our quality, our organisation and our ability to play our game at home.
“We’ve analysed Blackburn, just as we’ll analyse every opponent. We know their weaknesses and we know their strongest points, but we also know our own quality and our own strengths. We’ll use those to fight for the three points.”
On adapting his game to English football
“I’ve changed some things with set-pieces and some things in other moments of the game because I want the team to be organised and understand all the different moments within a match. During pre-season we’ve scored some goals from high pressing, but we won’t be able to press high in every moment of every game.
“The players have to understand the game and recognise what each moment requires. It’s important that we work as a team. When we can press high, we’ll press high. When we need to defend in a mid-block, we’ll stay organised. When the opposition pushes us deeper, which will sometimes happen, we have to be organised there as well.
“There are a lot of crosses in the Championship, for example, so the team needs to understand what to do in those situations. We want to play our football, be offensive and react strongly when we lose the ball, but we also need to understand the different moments of the game. I think we’re at a good level to attack the Championship.”
On the pressure to be champions
“It’s normal and, for me, it’s positive pressure. We know the club, we know our team and our players, and we know what our big goal is. We have to work as hard as we have during pre-season and play with the same intensity we’ve shown in the recent games.
“We want to fight for three points in every game. Of course, we know we’re not going to win every game, but we’ll try to win every game. What’s important to me is that, when we don’t win, the team stays organised and fights for the three points until the end.
“We need to have a clear identity and play in our way. It’s a long-term process. If we stay organised, stay humble and work as a team and as one unit – everyone at the club, the players and the fans as well – then hopefully, when the Championship finishes, we’ll be in the top positions and achieve promotion. That’s our big goal.”
On coming to Wolves
“I’m no different to other coaches. England is a huge football country and I think every manager wants the opportunity to coach here. When this opportunity came, I wanted to come as soon as possible. It’s an opportunity to work for a historic club, a big club, to do my work and show my ideas about football and how I want my teams to play. For me, it’s a very important opportunity and I’m ready to do a great job.
“I didn’t speak to anyone [before joining], but I’ve watched a lot of Wolves games over the years, partly because of the Portuguese players who were here. I also know a lot about English football because in Portugal we watch a lot of Premier League football and sometimes the Championship as well. I’m always trying to watch and analyse the best leagues, so I understand what we need to be competitive in this division.”
“I know Nuno very well because we were teammates at Porto for three or four years, but I haven’t spoken to him about this. I’m ready to work hard and fight for three points game after game.”
Final prep for Blackburn 🐺 pic.twitter.com/Cvis2xJl7E
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 13, 2026
On the role Jimenez will play
“Raul is a very important player for us, for the supporters and for the whole club. We expect Raul to score goals because that’s what he does.
“Away from the pitch, he’s a leader. He’s someone his teammates can look to because he’s a very good professional and always puts the team first. On the pitch, he has the quality and experience to score goals and help us improve as a team.
“He’s a very, very important player for us. Now we need to give him some time to get fully fit because he came back later after the World Cup, but he’ll be a key player for us during the season.”
