Nuno hails ‘deserved’ Wolves promotion

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo paid tribute to his players and the club’s fans after they marked their promotion to the Premier League with a 2-0 win against 10-man Birmingham at Molineux.

The home side cruised to victory thanks to Diogo Jota’s 17th goal of the season in the 21st minute and an 87th-minute strike from Benik Afobe.

They played the final 38 minutes with a one-man advantage after Blues had been reduced to 10 men when Harlee Dean was sent off for bringing down Helder Costa.

Nuno, who now wants to break the 100-point barrier on the way to winning the Sky Bet Championship title in his first season in charge, said: “I am very pleased. This is a big moment, first for the fans. It is why we work, for our fans.

“It was a special feeling always having the fans behind us.

“The players have been fantastic from day one. But we know that we still have something to go for and this season does not deserve any bad moment.

“It was a very hard season but the players deserved (to be promoted). They believed in something that was changing. They trust and believe and they kept doing that. It is the best reward you can have when someone believes the same as you.

“We now have 95 points, let’s get more and achieve some kind of glory.”

Nuno allowed his players to celebrate with a beer in the changing room after the game and he added: “That is something I have never allowed (before). It was the first time.”

Birmingham boss Garry Monk is facing a real fight to avoid relegation as his side are only two points above the drop zone with three games remaining.

Monk admitted the miss by Maxime Colin in the 11th minute was crucial but insisted his side will keep fighting.

He said: “We had that great opportunity with Max and then in the second half going down to 10 men made a difficult challenge much harder.

“We had a chance at the end through Lukas (Jutkiewicz) to snatch an equaliser but that is the difference. Wolves were clinical.

“But we are fighting. We are not going to take our eyes off the prize. These players are giving everything and will keep fighting.

“We knew this game would be difficult. We came to make it difficult and I thought we did that in the first half.

“With 10 men we were still in the game. It is very clear we are fighting and we have three massive games to come. It is still in our hands. We believe the belief will get us to where we want to be.”

Monk plans to appeal Dean’s dismissal and he added: “Harlee made an attempt for the ball. We will be looking to get that rescinded.”