James Collins was full of praise for his under-21s following Monday’s 2-1 victory over PSV at Molineux.
The youngsters in Old Gold got their Premier League International Cup campaign off to a winning start thanks to goals from Kam Kandola and Nathan Fraser. The Dutch side reduced the deficit late on but despite a nervy ending, head coach Collins felt his team were good value for the three points and more than held their own against tough opposition in the reigning champions of the competition.
On winning at Molineux
“It’s always great to win here. We got into a habit of doing it a couple of years ago when we got promoted.
“When you see the supporters coming to watch the game, you want to score some goals, give them some excitement and play well.
“For the majority of the game, we played really well. We tired towards the end and it got twitchy with some moments of frustration where I thought we could’ve kept the ball a little bit better, but we’re playing against one of the best under-21 teams in Europe.
“I thought we more than held our own and deserved to win the game. In fact, I was relatively comfortable at 2-0. It got interesting at the end, but I thought we defended manfully and got the win we deserved.”
On the team performance
“They’re a great set of lads. They work really hard for you – whatever I ask them to do, they do or try and do.
“It’s why I get so frustrated with them in the moments where they switch off. They’re used to working really hard for each other.
“I was really pleased with some of the football, the structure and playing to the structure. We found the 10’s much better today and we’d worked on going inside the pitch as opposed to outside when the 10’s and midfielders received the ball which helped.
“I thought we looked really dangerous doing that. The final ball could’ve been a little bit better at times, we scored the two goals from set pieces and I thought our played deserved a bit more than that.
“Our final pass and shot was frustrating. As I say, we thoroughly deserved to win the game and defended manfully.
“We threw our bodies on the line at the end, but also played some good football during the night. I would hope that people came to the game having enjoyed the evening and know that we’ve got some good players that give themselves a chance at good football careers.”
On the two goalscorers
“I thought Kam did terrific throughout the game. He read the game really well tonight. He got a bit shaky at the end I have to say, maybe he was tiring, but I thought he did really well throughout the night and led the game well. He controlled the game for us from the back alongside Justin (Hubner).
“With Nathan, it’s such an advantage to have a centre forward who can hold the ball up because you play your football and then the team get really tight against you. When they get really tight you can then play up to your striker.
“They can’t stop you, they can’t stop everything. Whereas, if you have a striker that can’t hold it up, it comes back and comes back and you’re under pressure.
“I thought Nathan held the ball up terrifically well and got the goal he deserved. I’ve said it in the last few interviews I’ve done about him but he looks a better player than when I last had him.
“He’s improved for going with the first-team, he’s got better which is what you want and he’s given himself a real chance.”
On beating the holders
“It’s the first game of the competition and when I saw we had the holders who, I think I said in the pre-match interview several times and built them up a bit too much, are unbeaten in 10 games here last year to win the tournament.
“That’s 10 games against Premier League opposition where they’ve not lost. They’ve won nine I think and drawn one and won the whole competition – that’s some achievement.
“For us to come up against them in the first game of this year at Molineux was always going to be a tough ask.
“For us to win the game at home in front of our fans and get three points to start gives us a real hope for the competition. That’s what it’s all about.”
