Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo unhappy with dropped points

Posted Wednesday, April 04, 2018 by PA

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo was critical of his side’s display as the Sky Bet Championship leaders had to battle back to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw against Hull.

Nuno’s men led through Diego Jota’s 18th-minute penalty but David Meyler equalised with a spot-kick of his own before the visitors went ahead through Ryan Bennett’s 78th-minute own goal.

Wolves were rescued by Oskar Buur, who headed in the leveller on his league debut seven minutes from time at Molineux.

Nuno said: “It was a tough game and we knew that it was going to be tough. We started well but in the second half it was not so good.

“A draw showed that we wanted to react and we reacted well. We had to show our character. Our character is always there but it was not a good performance.

“You have to look at what happened in the previous game against Middlesbrough. That was a big aspect of today, being with 10 men and then nine men.

“What happened there reflects on today. I don’t say tiredness but there was some rush on decision making and that created some of the mistakes.

“We wanted three points so we are not happy.”

Wolves need three wins to secure promotion to the Premier League and can take a huge step towards that when they travel to second-placed Cardiff on Friday.

Nuno added: “All the games in the Championship are big games it is the hardest competition in the world.

“Cardiff are a tough team and we know what we will face there.”

Hull boss Nigel Adkins was delighted that his game plan paid off as the Tigers moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.

“We came up with a game plan and played against the champions elect and I thought we were good value for the point,” said Adkins.

“We did really well. We made several changes and the players that have come in have done brilliant.

“It was a very good performance. We were good in possession of the football and we were good defensively.

“Wolves are the champions elect and they are a top, top, top side.

“They cause so many teams problems and I thought the way that we set ourselves up without the ball defensively nullified a lot of their threats. All the players were outstanding.

“It is another point to where we are going and likewise it is another consistent performance so we are pleased about that.

“It was a debated penalty to start with and we responded in the right manner. We showed the resilience that you need and the lads responded. Great credit to them.”