Marshall Munetsi believes a lack of clinical finishing in the first half of Wolves’ Championship draw with Blackburn Rovers was what denied the team all three points on opening day.
The Old Gold were well on top during the opening 45 minutes at Molineux on Friday evening, but the only opportunity they could turn to goal was Munetsi’s own shot – the team’s first of the season – to open the scoring on 18 minutes.
Blackburn were able to turn the game on its head early in the second period before Raul Jimenez’s late equaliser from the penalty spot, but Munetsi feels that his side had more than enough chances to put the game to bed before the break, and insists the players will learn from this into the rest of the season.
On drawing the opening game
“It’s a bit of both, two points dropped and one point gained, because I think in the first half we created some chances that we could have used to kill the game off.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, and I think in this league, if you don’t do that, you give the opponents a chance to gain confidence.
“They managed to get themselves in front, but I think we also showed character to equalise, especially at the end of the game.”
On need to be more clinical
“Definitely. I think you saw in pre-season and also in the cup game that we were a bit more clinical. It’s something that we can take confidence from as the games go on.
“Obviously, it’s the first game of the season, and there are a lot of things to learn from this. We need to build our courage and confidence, make sure we know what we need to rectify and keep getting better, especially when we have chances.”
On scoring Wolves’ first Championship goal
“I feel like we’ve been working on these situations in training, and I think this is some of the combination play we’ve been talking about. We executed it in a good way.
“That’s how the manager has been preparing us, to find those spaces, and he’s also demanding for me and the other players to be more clinical, especially when we get the chances.
“In these kinds of games, you might only get one chance, and I think we need to bury it. I think I was able to execute that, and that comes down to how the manager has been preparing us.”
On the start of a long season
“I think this game has already shown how difficult the Championship is and what we can expect from other teams. It’s also good because we’ve already seen what we need to improve and what we need to make sure we put behind us.
“But we also need to be aware of how teams can play against us and how other teams can be a threat to us.
“It’s going to be a long season. Every game counts, every point counts, and I think it’s just for us to make sure that we’re on the right track and keep fighting until the end.”
