After a link was agreed between Wolves and FC Jumilla during the summer, Wolves sent nine players out on loan in Spain and all eight who were fit started against a team made up of Wolves Academy members.
A Wolves man in Boubacar Hanne scored the only goal and Edwards was pleased to hear his players are benefitting from sampling football in a different country.
“It was great to see other players that are out on loan in these surroundings,” he explained. “We’ve wanted to do it for a while and the international break has fitted well.
“They were all smiling and will have been pleased to see some of their mates too, and it was good to see them on the pitch – I thought they played well. We were able to have some food and speak to them afterwards.”
The link appears to work for both parties, with Wolves players gaining experience by helping the Spanish third division side, as they strive to improve on last season’s 13th place finish.
“They’ve been really welcoming. We were able to chat about the game and players. It was good to finally meet properly and we’ll try to make the link even stronger.
“It was difficult to break them down, they were an organised unit. We got into some good areas but lacked a killer instinct but that was to be expected.”
Nine of Edwards’ squad are currently training with the first-team, meaning his travelling squad was a mix of players from different groups, which he believes told on the pitch.
“It served a purpose. Three or four of the lads haven’t played for a while so we introduced a team that’s been together for one day and we lacked a bit of cohesion.
“I thought some of our build-up was OK to a point, but we didn’t really have a cutting edge. Austin Samuels had half a chance where we did quite well, but we didn’t have much of a threat.
“I thought the shape was OK and most of the players showed a good understanding of it, but there was a lack of cohesion as a unit.”
Edwards’ players will now rest up and return to the UK later in the week after a few days of team bonding in Spain.
“We’ll do some recovery on Wednesday and a few of the lads that didn’t play much can do some work in the gym, then we travel back on Thursday.
“Togetherness and team bonding are always good for the boys, spending time together.”
