The development side are unbeaten from their opening four matches of 2022 and with the likes of Andreas Sondergaard, Christian Marques and Taylor Perry providing a young squad with an experienced spine, Collins’ was pleased with the balance within the team and the selflessness his players displayed on the pitch to claim another three points, to push the team closer to the Division 2 play-off spots.
On back-to-back wins in PL2
“I’m delighted with the win. I thought the real positive was that we looked really solid, we kept a clean sheet and other than the break in the first-half when he got in and Andreas [Sondergaard] made a really good save, we restricted them to very minimal chances.
“They had a bit of the ball, but I don’t think they looked like breaking our structure down too much and I thought the boys played to the objectives we set to them really well.
“We took the goal well and the last one came at a really good time when you’re worrying at 1-0 with five minutes to go, something might happen, and they had a free-kick that was a bit worrying, but other than that, we controlled the game really well and saw it out very professionally.”
25' | #WOL 1-0 #BIR
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) February 7, 2022
Marques' header is well saved, but Griffiths pounces on the rebound to open the scoring!
📺 https://t.co/vTrdjKIjKu pic.twitter.com/yWY3DGnvRZ
On Perry providing experience to the team
“It’s very difficult to ask under-23 players to play for the team, because they’re trying to get their own objectives. TP has come back and wants to get back out and get his career going, Harvey [Griffiths] is a young player who is trying to get the gaffer to notice him, and they’ve all got their own little objectives.
“But I thought tonight, they put all that aside and played for each other, and that’s what you get when you do that – a thoroughly good team performance, a clean sheet and the nice feeling from winning the game.
“Hopefully they’ll learn from that, and to get your own rewards, you put the team first and tonight was a real good example of that.”
On the balance of young and senior players
“We like to go young, but TP is here now for a few months, he’s needed the football, he’s needed the games, but sometimes that can cause a problem with their attitude to it.
“But I thought Andreas and TP were excellent with how they helped the team and how the played in the structure, and they’re really good examples to those younger players of how you approach these matches.
“It was great credit to them and it was also a good learning for the young boys to see and play with more senior players, so it was a nice balance tonight.”
🔋 Unreal 90th minute energy from Hugo Bueno
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) February 7, 2022
😎 Composed finish from a 16 year-old
How Nathan Fraser wrapped up the points tonight!
🎓👏 pic.twitter.com/uvCgMJBABk
On aiming for the play-offs
“Truthfully, I won’t look at the league table – maybe a little bit, but not much. It’s about performances and developing the players.
“If we’d have played poorly tonight and won, you’d have got a little bit of pleasure, but really, we’re here to develop the boys into footballers.
“I’m delighted with the performance tonight and the result is a cherry on top, but the performance meant we got a thoroughly deserved win and there was plenty of individuals out there who will have good careers in football if they perform like that.
“Those are the positives, and if during the season you do that often enough, you get a little bonus in the play-offs, which would be nice because you always want to play in big games, but that’s not the be-all-and-end-all.”
On having one eye on the FA Youth Cup tie at Molineux
“We were thoroughly aware of that. Harry [Birtwistle] played his first game back after Covid at Swansea, and then he’s had to play tonight, so we wanted to get him off and give him a breather to help Steve [Davis, u18 head coach].
“Owen Farmer needs minutes because he hasn’t had a game for a while, so that was one of the reasons we brought him on. We know he’s capable at this level, but we also wanted to get him some minutes for the Youth Cup team.
“That’s how we work and that’s the positives of how we work and I’m really excited to see how they do on Saturday and see how they perform in front of a real bumper crowd which I imagine the supporters will turn out to watch that as it’s a really exciting game.”
Tickets must be bought in advance for Saturday's 1pm kick-off against Tottenham Hotspur at Molineux from tickets.wolves.co.uk and are priced at £3 for adults while concessions and under-17s can watch the action for just £2.
