Dave Edwards: Tenacious Wolves have got bundles of character

You can understand if the season might begin to peter out and they concentrated on the FA Cup, but not this Wolves team. Not an O’Neil team, that doesn’t happen.

That was shown from the first whistle against Spurs, with the intensity Wolves played at. They were fantastic, absolutely fabulous.

The first half was excellent and they fully deserved the lead and the victory in the end.

It’s no mistake that these opportunities manufacture themselves in games where Wolves have overloads in the right areas and counter-attack chances – it’s down to the way O’Neil sets his team up from a defensive point of view.

He works with them on how to then transition at speed and Wolves are one of the best transitional teams in the league. They played the game perfectly on Saturday.

I’m always fascinated when O’Neil speaks after games and the detail he goes into about the work they do on each game plan.

He said there was four fundamental areas which he thought his team were excellent in, if not perfect.

In possession it was about when Spurs pressed them, were they good enough to play out and they were very comfortable on the ball with the back five and the two central midfielders Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes.

When Wolves had the chances to counter-attack, could they do it quickly and use the space, which they definitely did. You can see with the second goal there was no panic in Gomes’ clearance, he picked the pass and Pedro Neto’s pace was incredible. He then picked out the pass for Gomes.

Then out of possession this is what impressed me the most and it’s where the two midfielders are so important.

They dictate how the team press and there were times when they knew Spurs would be comfortable in possession, so they were compact and didn’t let them play through the lines. They limited James Maddison in particular. The thing I love most about it was how they pressed aggressively when the time came. Toti Gomes was excellent at it, Lemina always does it well, but Gomes is the best ball-winner I’ve ever seen in a Wolves shirt.

He’s incredible. The amount of times he regains possession is so impressive.

Sometimes as a midfielder you press to force them to pass backwards or sidewards and then you get back into your shape, but every time Gomes presses he is trying to win the ball.

He’s intense, he’s tenacious, he’s so athletic and dynamic. What he did really well against Spurs, is once he did win the ball, more often than not he was then able to compose himself and pick the right pass.

Wolves were excellent in those four stages and the midfield two were so important to that. Lemina was not the star of the show like he has been so often in a Wolves shirt, but he went about his job like a real leader.

He controlled the midfield and allowed Gomes to shine. We haven’t seen Gomes break forward too much, but he did on Saturday and scored two goals that I’d have been very proud of.

The first was a glancing header from a corner, and then arriving in the box late for the second. To show he can add that to his game is really special.

The Brazil manager was at the game, which is great for him, and the Wolves fans have really taken to Gomes. They love everything about him and it’s great to see how much he loves playing for the club.

I’m glad he had the game he did because he’s had to prove himself with Tommy Doyle waiting in the wings and performing so well. It felt like Gomes needed this big performance and he delivered it.

I also have to mention Pedro Neto – he is a special player.

He works so hard on his game and he has the attributes to be a world-class footballer – which he isn’t far off becoming.

With his pace he’s impossible to mark but now with his end product, he’s a real problem for the opposition.

He drives into the box quickly because he knows defenders have to be so careful. They’re scared of what he’ll do and he’s producing the goods.

I have no doubt, unfortunately, he will move on from Wolves. He’s just that good. The best clubs in the world will be looking at him, with the age he’s at.

Let’s enjoy him while we can because he’s one of the best we’ve seen.