Cesar Peixoto hailed the impact of his substitutes, after Sean Neave came off the bench to become the Wolves hero, turning defeat into victory at Bristol City on Wednesday night.
Wolves were the better side throughout at Ashton Gate but trailed for a large spell to an impressive free-kick. In the second period Peixoto brought five fresh faces off the bench in a bid to turn the game around.
In the final ten minutes of the match Neave came up trumps with two close range finishes – his first goals in professional football – and left Peixoto delighted with the contributions of his whole squad once again.
On a big win on the road
“I think we deserved the win. We were the better team on the pitch. Before we conceded, we created a lot of chances from crosses and put a lot of players inside the box. But we took too long to finish the moves and get shots on target. Sometimes, when we crossed, we didn’t attack the ball at the right moment.
“I think the first 20 or 25 minutes were totally ours. We created a lot of situations to score. Then, like has happened in the past, the opposition scored an amazing goal. In the last minutes of the first half, we became a little anxious.
“We spoke with the players at half-time, and they understood what we had to do in the second half. I think in the second half, they played what the game needed. We played more directly, attacked the spaces more, reacted better when we lost the ball and pressed the opposition with more aggression and intensity.
“We pushed them, we pushed them, and we believed until the end. The players who came from the bench were very, very important. We put two strikers on and used all the options we had on the bench to make the team more attacking. We scored one goal, kept believing, showed soul, and scored the second goal. I think we deserved the win.”
On the impact off the bench
“It was very important. I say this all the time, we have a lot of games, and the players who come from the bench are very important. They can change games, score goals, make assists or keep pushing the team and bring energy into the game. Today, they were very, very important again.
“I think we could have won more comfortably because we deserved that. But we didn’t score, and when you don’t score, the game becomes more and more difficult. But we believed until the end. I believe in all my players, and the players who came from the bench were very important in this game.”
On Sean Neave’s impact
“I’m very happy for him because he scored his first goal. He’s a humble player, and he works a lot. We made some short videos for the strikers to look at the opposition goalkeeper. They saw that when he faces shots, sometimes he doesn’t hold the ball and it stays close to the goal.
“Sean watched that before the game. He’s clever and intelligent, and he reacted to the second ball and scored. I’m very happy for him. But most importantly, it was an important goal for the team.”
On the momentum continuing
“I believe in the process. But I don’t believe that just because we’ve gone five games unbeaten, with four wins and one draw, everything is good. I believe in hard work, and I believe in my players. Today was only three points.
“The Championship is very long, with so many games still to play. Every team can beat every other team, like we saw with some of the other results today. We have to stay calm, stay focused, believe in the process, believe in the players and keep pushing until the end to try to win every game.”
