Wolves 0 Jablonec 1 – Five talking points

A free kick early in the second half gave the Czech side the victory during an underwhelming evening in Schwaz.

Wolves' best chance fell to Sylvain Deslandes who sent a shot just wide but otherwise they struggled to create clear-cut chances.

So what did we learn from the game? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.

Laboured

A game too far? It certainly looked that way. But after a lengthy 10-day tour in humid Austria, having played two matches and endured daily double training sessions, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised.

While results aren't of huge importance at this stage it was certainly a deflating end to the trip – and no player wants to lose a football match.

The team were despondent at full time – "f****** s****" was how one described the performance – but with a new system, a new head coach and plenty of new players there will be plenty of bumps in the road. This was a relatively minor one.

Final third

Where it went wrong for Wolves was in the final third. The shape of the team and their tidy build-up play was of a similar standard to their victories over Werder Bremen and Viktoria Plzen, but when it came to creating meaningful chances ideas and inspiration were in short supply.

That the team have mostly been working on shape, discipline and moving the ball out from the back in training is directly related to this. Work on the final third – or 'phase two' as David Edwards termed it in a post-match chat – will be ramped up from now on.

Nuno has been building from the back and in that regard they looked solid, again giving away few chances from open play.

As against Plzen the opposition's goal came from a set piece and Harry Burgoyne will be disappointed he didn't keep Travnik's free kick out.

But otherwise the defence, particularly Conor Coady who has excelled in his new centre half role, didn't look bad.

And when you add Costa, Marshall, Graham and a new striker into the mix, that final third won't look bad either.

Naughty Neves

This Ruben Neves guy is pure filth. It may only be pre-season friendlies but some of the stuff this man has been doing with a football has been x-rated.

He pings 40-yard passes like he's turning the tap on – just a breathtakingly simple act for a player who oozes class.

More important than the pings to the flanks, though, were some of his through balls to Enobakhare (who had a poor game), Dicko and Cavaleiro.

It remains to be seen how he copes with the physical nature of the Championship, but boy can Neves pick a pass.

Talking of picking passes, Conor Ronan had another productive 30 minutes albeit in his unfavoured position in the front three.

Ronan seems to have grown in confidence and isn't afraid to get his foot in. Add in the fact he's one of the most technically gifted footballers at the club and it's clear Wolves have another special young talent on their hands.

Can a place be found for him in the XI? If he continues his rapid improvement it'll be very difficult to leave him out.

Time to adapt

Everyone needs time to adapt to this new 3-4-3 system but also the patient, probing passing game that Nuno is implementing.

You wonder in particular how the infamously impatient Molineux crowd will take to it. There were more than a few occasions against Jablonec when the ball would go into midfield and then back out to the defence again, with keeping possession far more important than risking losing it with a hopeful ball forward.

Wolves' Molineux form has been a big issue in the past two seasons and cracking that will be one of Nuno's toughest challenges.

He's asking for patience from his players when they're in possession – but patience will also be required from the stands.

Productive week

All in all it's been a productive trip. Seven new signings have had time to bed in with their new team mates and Nuno has had an invaluable 10 days of training and matches as he figures out just who will take to the field for the big kick off against Middlesbrough on August 5.

What the week has also done is show up where Wolves need strengthening. Only Cavaleiro and Dicko have impressed in the key areas in and around goal and, while there are three injured players to return, Wolves desperately need to find a prolific goalscorer before August 31 to compete with Dicko for that number nine spot.

It's something that every man and his dog has been pointing out for the past two years. Indeed, the last goalscoring striker that the club bought was Benik Afobe in January 2015. Wolves have six weeks to put that right.