Rob Edwards acknowledged the first goal was always going to be crucial against Crystal Palace and was disappointed to see his first game back at Molineux follow a familiar pattern for the Old Gold.
Wolves had been well in the game until the opening goal and had shaded proceedings in the second half until the Eagles took the lead on 63 minutes, but that moment proved decisive as Palace kicked on and the hosts could never recover.
For the new head coach, who only had his full squad together on Friday following international duty, knows turning things around was always going to take time, but know finding a clinical edge in front of goal is going to be key.
On the performance and result
“Really disappointed with the result. The effort was there, but we can still improve in certain areas, that's for sure. As you look back, the game’s moments. We actually started the second half well and looked like the team more threatening, and then there's elements of good fortune in the first goal, but they take that chance.
“Today was probably the story of our season – what we're picking up on at the moment, it was really important that we got the first goal, and we weren't able to do that. The game was so tight at that moment, and then clearly a loose giveaway and a brilliant finish from them, it's almost a non-chance, but a brilliant a brilliant finish for the second goal.
“We almost took the shackles off a little bit and began to play a little bit more but we need to feel like that at 0-0. I felt they were the better team first half, but with 0-0 we could make some improvement. I felt we started the second half, and I thought we were a bit more dominant, but they ended up taking the moments and that's probably why I'm here.
“So, it was never going to be a quick fix. Obviously, we're disappointed with the result today, but we’ve got to try and build on the things. There were some glimpses there. We created some big chances and there were moments there. You look at the actual stats, there's not much in it, it's probably why they are where they are, and why we are where we are right now at the moment, and that's what we've got to try and reverse.”
On looking in the mirror
“We've got no one to blame other than ourselves, and we've got to look at ourselves, and we've got to try and find a way to get ourselves out of it, and it's only going to be by extreme hard work and doing the basics really well. No one's going to give us the conference. I believe we've got to earn that and create ourselves.”
On the front two playing together
“I think they'll be very difficult to play against. Tolu’s done really well this week for us, and I’ve liked him, and I thought he worked extremely hard today. We'll get more from him the fitter he gets. He's not at full power I don't think quite sure yet, but he worked really, really hard for the hour or so that he was on. I'm looking forward to getting more from him. I think he believes in what we're trying to do. If we can get them right at it, you wouldn’t want to play against those two.”
On the scale of the task
“It's not going to be done in a week. We knew it was never just going to be a click of your fingers and that's it. There's probably quite a lot there that has been the story of our season so far, fairly tight, maybe a little bit of a lack of confidence and belief, but not much in the game, and then you get punished. We need to try and find that first goal, and you can't just say, ‘Right lads, we need to score first’. We've got to make sure that we do everything right, do the basics really well, and work hard and work harder.
“We've definitely tried to up the intensity, but it was quite a bitty week, we’ve not had all the players in. So, it's all well and good me talking about what we want and train it for five days, but we need to be able to really get to work. We'll get another full week at it now before we play Villa, and hopefully we can see some improvements again. We all want a magic wand, none of us have got it, so the only way we're going to turn things around is by sticking together and working really hard.”
