Wolves coach hails Walter Zenga ahead of Aston Villa showdown

First-team coach Edwards, who came through the youth system at Villa Park, would love to string together a series of wins starting at his first professional club.

Before that derby, however, Edwards said he has been on a steep learning curve since Zenga's arrival in the summer.

"The training has been really interesting as it has been different and I have been able to pick up different things," said Edwards. "Walter has some really good ideas – a lot of thought and detail goes into every training session.

"He looks at the opposition and their threats, and what we can do in a game, and then plans the sessions around that to build a game-plan leading up to the weekend.

"I think that is a good way of doing it and there is a real thought process behind every decision.

"Team selection, those training sessions, the analysis with the meetings before the games – they are all linked and the players know exactly what they are being asked to do."

Edwards knows Wolves must improve their consistency if they are to become promotion contenders this season.

"We need to play with the intensity like we did against Reading, Brentford or against Huddersfield after the first 20 minutes," he said.

"There have been snippets in games where we have done it but we need to put it together into a full 90 minutes, and that is always difficult to do."

Edwards is looking forward to the short trip to Villa Park on Saturday week – the club he joined as a 10-year-old.

"It will be nice to go back to Villa Park," he said. "I know the players are looking forward to it too, it should be a really good game. There could be a new manager in place for them and if they haven't they will have a really experienced guy at the helm in Steve Clarke.

"We will be expecting a tough game as they have very good players but we are looking forward to it."