Shropshire Star

Gary O'Neil keen on Wolves' playing style

Gary O’Neil is determined for Wolves to stick by their style despite their struggles in the early weeks of the season.

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Wolves started the season having made the switch to a back four with a more aggressive and front foot approach.

Although the defensive shape has remained the same, O’Neil has tweaked his system since the transfer window closed, bringing in Andre in a midfield three.

Despite the club amassing just one point in six games, the head coach believes in his side and their way of playing and is keen not to stray too far from their identity.

He said: “We never move too far away from what we want to be, but we do always understand that, especially with Jorgen (Strand Larsen) on the pitch, we have good opportunities to be direct and we’re never afraid to do so. Against Newcastle, we had some real good phases from going long into Jorgen.

“If you look at the stats and the numbers, my teams aren’t ones that spend ages in build-up, but it is important that we are able to build up.

“Against Aston Villa, the fact that we weren’t able to build up against high pressure meant that we just kept losing the ball and we were under constant threat.

“The Premier League tests you at everything, and I work really hard with them on trying to be able to do it all.

“The players have an excellent understanding of what it looks like, which is why we managed to perform to a higher level against some tough opposition in the first few weeks of the season, of course, we’ve not managed to turn enough of them into results, but we’ve given ourselves an opportunity in every game.

“We want to be able to compete with those teams, we want to be able to play our way against them, and there’s been no stepping off, changing and moving away from what we are.

“We’ve tried to be ourselves, and we’re not afraid to do that. We go to Brentford, we look to play our way, we look to be as progressive as we can, understand what it’s going to need, and it’s an opportunity for us tomorrow to get our first win.”

Wolves travel to face Brentford tomorrow, with that elusive first victory up for grabs, but O’Neil insists it is a long season in which it is too early to panic.

He added: “It’s a 38-game race and I have full belief in myself and the group that we’re going to end up in a good spot. We know that if we play well and if we perform to our potential that we have a good opportunity against Brentford.

“Brentford will feel the same about us, and that’s what we’ll do. We can only take care of ourselves and the performance, and the performance gives yourself an opportunity to win the game.

“Outside of here, there will be noise and people asking questions because of the run of results, but we’re ready for this weekend, and then we’ll be ready for the game after that, and that will continue until the end of the season.

“I’m really confident in the group and what they’re going to be able to produce over the full course of the season.”