Two goals from Lee Harkin as well as a contribution from Christian Marques and a first strike in gold and black from Joe Hodge, who is still recovering from an injury he picked up ahead of signing from Manchester City in the summer, saw Wolves comfortably overcome their Black Country rivals to move above Albion and into the play-off places.
On overcoming West Brom
“It was probably the most complete performance we’ve had this season. From start to finish, I thought we were outstanding.
“We knew it was 3-4-3 versus 3-4-3 and thought in possession converting to a diamond would help us, and it was something I saw our gaffer [Lage] do in the first 20 minutes at Tottenham, and thought it worked there so would be good for us to use that, and it worked a treat.
“In the end, we got the goals we deserved, and it was a thoroughly professional performance.”
On having to wait for the goals to arrive
“By that time, I thought we were well on top. We were relatively comfortable and probably before the first goal I was thinking that we’d had a lot of chances and not put one away.
“But we got the free-kick, Lee brilliant on the rebound, and once you get the one, it gives you the confidence, and I thought we played with real confidence tonight.
“From the young players to the experienced players, I thought from one to 11, they were magnificent.”
55' | #WBA 0-2 #WOL
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) March 14, 2022
Marques gets his name on the scoresheet to put us two in front!! 😁
📺 https://t.co/b3qkTc7V1O pic.twitter.com/uf36rSnv0y
On utilising experienced players
“When you’ve got players like Cundle and Christian [Marques] who get the team playing and Chem’s [Campbell] on a real good run of form.
“I thought that was as good as I’ve seen Chem play, although he didn’t get his goals tonight, but he showed the professionalism we want from him, when two years ago he’d have been showboating and dribbling and stepovers and not getting anywhere when it’s two or three nil, but today I thought he played brilliantly.
“We had good players on the pitch, but those good players played really professionally, and, in the end, it was a comfortable 4-0 win.”
On Harkin’s brace
“We reverted to a diamond, which meant that centre-forward’s job is almost a selfless job. He’s got to stay up there, stay out the way and keep the three centre-halves busy, so the space is there for the diamond and I thought he did that brilliantly.
“I told him that if he did that, he might not get many kicks of the ball, but you’ll get some chances, and that’s what happened. I’m delighted for him to get his goals, especially getting his second one just before coming off. He deserves that because he’s done really well for us this season, he starts our press and he was good with the ball tonight.
“I also have to say about ‘Hodgy’ getting a goal late on, I’m delighted to see him come on the pitch and score after the recent injury history he’s had, so it was brilliant and a good night all round.”
The icing on the cake!
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) March 14, 2022
🎂⚽️ pic.twitter.com/7M7aFzJCJZ
On the season run-in
“It will be a different team on Friday [against Aston Villa] because the first-team are playing at the same time, so we’ll have some of the others back in, which is brilliant for them.
“Other than the Exeter game, which was almost a dead-rubber, we’re unbeaten in a while and have won four league games on the trot now. We’re on a good run and it’s a good time in the season to win games and get yourselves into play-off contention.
“But more important than that was the performance. If we’d have lost that unfortunately 1-0 tonight, I’d still have walked out here and been delighted, because I thought we were magnificent.”
