Nuno hails Wolves’ ‘deserved’ win over Reading

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2018 by PA

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo was relieved to see his table topping side get back to winning ways following their 3-0 Sky Bet Championship win against Reading at Molineux.

A run of only five points five games had seen Wolves’ promotion push stall, but Matt Doherty eased their nerves with a 40th minute opener, Benik Afobe doubled their advantage after 58 minutes before Doherty grabbed his second 17 minutes from time.

Wolves had been hammered 4-1 by Aston Villa in their previous match and Nuno said: “Of course we are happy, but on Saturday we were not happy so we are looking for consistency.

“Today I think it was a deserved win and a well-played game.

“It was a good game, a good performance and a good result.

“I think our fans enjoyed the game, I think we were in control of the game.

“We managed every situation well, we defended well and we didn’t give anything to Reading who are a good team.”

Wolves can take another step closer to promotion when they face Burton on Saturday and Nuno said: “I challenge you to look at the schedule and see how important the home factor is in this league.

“This is what we are looking for, to be consistent again on Saturday.”

The win did come at a cost with Diogo Jota limping off in the first-half.

Nuno added: “We know Diogo and when he cannot go on the pitch we know he is in pain. Let’s see how he is.”

Reading boss Jaap Stam has now seen his side fail to win in eight games and they have only got a solitary victory in 17 matches.

He spoke to the club’s owners before the game and said: “Of course I am fed up with losing. I can’t do anything about that (my position) and if they want to make changes you need to go to the owners.

“I spoke to them (the owners) this morning

“At the end of the day they are very supportive with what they are doing.

“In the situation we are in I hate it as well. I want to go forward as well, I want to win my games as well.

“I know what we need to bring to the game.

“But the ones who start need to show it on the pitch.

“I don’t think players are not deliberately not doing their best.

“But sometimes in the situation we are in it is very difficult to change your game. They need to try.

“Hopefully we can see an end to this run. We need to do things differently and the intensity has to be a lot more.

“If you do things with a certain mindset you can make it more difficult for the opposition.”