Dave Edwards: Wolves need big players to stand up in final five games

I was hoping for a bit of a reaction from the West Ham game, to show it was a one-off, but in all truth, they were well beaten by a better team.

Leeds were good and they looked like they were playing with more intensity and they blew Wolves away in that first 45 minutes.

I remember being at the 3-1 defeat to Leeds at Molineux earlier this season and Leeds were a lot better physically, they overran us in midfield that day.

At Elland Road Leeds just looked more dynamic, more physical, and regardless of quality on the pitch, at times you do need that aspect in your game.

You look at all the best teams, they'll have strong runners in the team, they'll be very dynamic, they'll be durable, they'll be strong, they'll be quick.

I think Leeds looked far superior at that, and the first 45 minutes was really poor from Wolves.

The goals summed it up. In the first one, the second phase of a set-piece where you've just got to find a shirt, but look at how much space James Justin had.

It was a terrific finish, an excellent overhead kick, but he's in the middle of four Wolves players and that's happened a couple of times recently. That is something that Wolves have to be better at.

Just like at West Ham, Wolves conceded straight after the first goal and it kills any momentum.

Toti’s poor pass gave the ball away and before you know it you're 2-0 down, away from home against a team which is in a good run of form.

In all honesty, Wolves were lucky to go into half-time at 2-0. Leeds looked like they could really run riot for the remaining 20 minutes of that first half.

The changes did make Wolves better. Mane did well when he came on and Wolves looked more lively compared to what Angel Gomes did.

Pedro Lima coming on offered us something a little bit more different and I'd like to see more of Lima in these last few games.

I have been a bit of an advocate of Jackson Tchatchoua. I know he's come under a lot of criticism but I feel his pace can really add something to Wolves.

But he’s really struggling for consistent performances and maybe Lima could be the future, especially in the Championship for Wolves, so it would be great to see a little bit more of him.

They did get a chance in the second half. Adam Armstrong took his chance really well but it was offside, Darlow made an incredible save from Krejci’s header and Rodrigo Gomes had that moment where he shot wide and maybe should have passed it to Armstrong.

One of those had to go in to give Wolves a little bit of confidence and to make Elland Road feel a little bit more nervous than what it did in the end, but the third goal ended it as a contest.

Out of the performances, I was a bit disappointed in Toti, but I was also gutted for him.

He's been such a good servant to the football club, has captained the club on many occasions, and I was hoping he could come back in and find some good form to stay on the team until the end of the season.

He had the opportunity with Mosquera’s suspension, but he really struggled and made that mistake for the goal.

He hasn’t played much football recently, so wouldn’t have been in his rhythm, but I was hoping for more from him.

Overall, the performances against West Ham and Leeds has halted the momentum that Wolves were building before that extended break.

We've seen a lot of desire within the group, the performances were getting a lot stronger, but a 3-0 defeat is hard to take.

There's going to be a lot of thinking at Compton as to how they want to go and finish the season. We have a couple of huge home games coming up to try and get the fans back engaged, back singing, and try and finish the season as strong as possible.

It has hurt Rob Edwards and the team a lot more from the fans' perspective, so they're going to need a big reaction when it does come to those home games.

They're going to need their key players to really stand up and be counted as well.

You're going to need players like Joao Gomes, Andre, and Krejci. Maybe their futures are away from Molineux, but they're the players Wolves really need to come to the fore. I think all of them were left a little bit wanting on Saturday.

I hope those guys aren’t in protection mode and looking after their bodies to stay fit for when they move on. Hopefully they can give everything for as long as they are Wolves players.

Hopefully we can squeeze another four or five performances out of those guys, because that will massively help Wolves. They are obviously our best players and if we're going to win games, it's going to be down to those guys.