Scott Sellars paid tribute to his squad as a young Wolves team beat Accrington Stanley 4-0 last night to book a place in the knockout stages of the Checkatrade Trophy.
Wolves made it two wins and a defeat from their three group games in the competition as goals from Christian Herc, Donovan Wilson, Connor Ronan (penalty) and Bright Enobakhare saw off the League Two side.
It was an excellent all-round performance at Molineux, in keeping with what has been a settled group at Under-23 level all season.
“I thought we were a bit nervous in the first ten minutes,” said the coach.
“It took us a goal to settle down but once we did that our performance was outstanding, both with and without the ball.
“Without the ball we pressed really well, we pressed together, and because of that we got the ball back.
“And when we did that we always looked a threat – we have got players with flair who can get goals.
“To score four against a league side is very pleasing but I thought without the ball we were just as good.”
Under the rules of the competition Wolves could have fielded a handful of senior players over the age of 21.
But instead Sellars opted to go for a young side with an average age of just over 18.
“We had spoken about this game and with it being international break there might have been the option to put a few of the senior lads in there,” he explained.
“But I wanted to see how good our lads were, especially playing here at Molineux.
“We saw how good a lot of them were at Chesterfield when we had ten men for about 60 minutes.
“Once again, as they have done since day one of pre-season, they showed what they can do and what a good squad they are.
“Morgan Gibbs-White is 16, Christian is 17, so in terms of age it is a young group.
“But that doesn’t really matter does it? If you are good enough you are old enough and that has always been my belief as a development coach and from my own career as a player.”
Sellars continued: “We always need to challenge the players whenever we can.
“They have the league games in the Under-23 league but it is good to put them up against men and sometimes that happens by them going out on loan.
“It is good for us to have the experiences we have had in these three games together with us and playing the way we want to play.
“It is showing these lads that they have the potential to play league football.
“We can’t guarantee they will all get in the Wolves first team but I think that some of them will.
“But whether it is here or elsewhere I would like to think we can provide careers for all of them within the game.”
Having topped the group Wolves will now have a home tie in the round of 32, with the draw taking place live on Sky Sports at 10.30am tomorrow (Thursday).
Sellars isn’t looking too far ahead, but is just hopeful of a bigger crowd for the next round so fans can create more of an atmosphere for the young group.
“The tournament has been a trip into the unknown for us,” he said.
“How good are they? Are they strong enough? Could they cope physically?
“Now we look at the next round and hopefully more exposure to real football.
“We will get another home tie and while the crowd at Molineux last night were great it would be nice to see a few thousand here if we can to create a bigger atmosphere.
“We are a very attack-minded team and for people who love their football, I think they will enjoy how we play.”
