James Collins was pleased with the way his under-21s side competed on Wednesday night, despite falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid at Molineux.
Wolves opened their Premier League International Cup campaign hosting the Spanish giants under the Molineux lights, but it was late heartbreak for Collins’ side, as Bruno Iglesias’ late free-kick proved decisive enough for Madrid to run out victorious.
The under-21 head coach touched on the performance, positives to take, and playing in front of close to 4,000 supporters following the full-time whistle.
On facing off against Madrid at Molineux
“What an occasion. Real Madrid don't come to town very often and the boys won't get too many opportunities in their life to play against Real Madrid.
“They came here with a strong group, I think they had two 22-year-olds and four 21-year-olds - we had one 21-year-old. So to play against an older Real Madrid team and run it to the 84th minute to then concede a free kick.
“We had to hang on a bit in the second half, Arthur [Nasta] only had one real save to make, and then we could have got one at the end, that would have been a deserved equaliser.
“I'm immensely proud of the boys, hopefully they've learned a lot. Great to see nearly 4,000 people here supporting, it would have been nice to give them a goal but I am really proud of the boys and how they competed.”
On taking positives from the game
“We expected them to have a lot of the ball, but I thought in the first half we had some good counter-attacks and I thought we were an equal threat. They had more of the ball but I thought it was an even game.
“I was really delighted with the first half, it's just hard to keep that going against a team that can handle the ball so well, and then it was a bit of cat and mouse when it was 0-0, because you're reluctant to change the shape - you're in it and in the game.
“Then we changed the shape after the goal and went to a 4-3-3, and that gave us a bit more impetus on the attack, but obviously you're more vulnerable at the back.
“Then with the chance at the end, it would have just been nice to give the crowd a goal, I think the boys really deserved something from the game. Don't get me wrong, Real Madrid dominated possession as you'd expect, but I thought our boys gave it a real good go, showed our ability and really competed.”
On a big crowd for the 21s
“It doesn't get any better for us, I've said in many interviews that the year we had real success as a team, we had five or six games played here. Hugo Bueno, Joe Hodge and Luke Cundle were all in that team.
“You see them grow because they get used to playing here, they get used to playing in front of people, so it becomes normal. I know it's not easy for us to get on here all the time but I can't tell you how much from a development point of view how much of a help it is for us.
“That’s why it's great to see the crowd here and have a really good challenge from the opponent point of view. Under the lights on a great big pitch, you don't get much better than that for development.”
Written by Callum Greybanks
