‘Really difficult situation’ - Rob Edwards lauds Tolu Arokodare impact for Wolves

It was the Nigerian international’s third goal of the season from 27 appearances and came just weeks after he received racist abuse on social media following a missed penalty in Wolves’ defeat to Crystal Palace.

Edwards praised Arokodare’s impact at Brentford and his response to that adversity.

Asked how pleased he was to see the 25-year-old score, he said: “Yes, great. Another one who would be disappointed not to start but then made an impact and made it a good night. 

“He'll be very pleased. He's had a couple of weeks where he might be - look, I can't get into his head, but obviously had a really difficult situation after the game at Palace. 

“But football can turn quite quickly, you've always got an opportunity to try and put things right or make an impact, and he's done that.”

Arokodare nearly completed a remarkable turnaround moments later, with another header crashing agonisingly against the woodwork just two minutes after his equaliser.

Arokodare has now appeared as a substitute in Wolves’ last three league matches since the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, as he competes with January signing Adam Armstrong for a place in the starting XI.

Meanwhile, Mateus Mane was withdrawn at half-time at Brentford after starting each of Wolves’ previous 12 matches in all competitions.

The 18-year-old has impressed under Edwards this season and has earned his first call-up to Portugal’s under-21 squad for their upcoming Euro U21 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Scotland.

Born in Portugal but raised in England, Mane previously represented England at under-18 level, winning seven caps, but has opted to represent his country of birth.

Edwards confirmed Mane was not injured, explaining the tactical switch and again praising his substitutes.

“He's fine,” he said. “Just felt that was what was needed tonight for Angel (Gomes). We did flip something during the first half, just the way we were pressing, so we just felt it would be a bit more Angel's game. I thought he made a really good impact as well. 

“All the subs did to be fair. They came on and impacted the game again really well, which is pleasing because we've been talking about that a lot. 

“People are always disappointed when they don't start, but then you can still make a massive impact and make it a good night. 

“We spoke about that a lot today and we've had that recently, a fair bit, which is really good.”

By the time Wolves next play - at West Ham on April 10 - 25 days will have passed since their match at Brentford.

Wolves have moved clear of the top four lowest-performing teams in Premier League history based on points totals and are currently level with Aston Villa’s 2016/17 tally of 17.

Asked what he is thinking heading into the final games, Edwards added: “Just focusing on West Ham, not giving you any kind of headline there. But we're trying to get as many points and take it as far as we can, that's all we can do. 

“So we're going the right way about things at the moment and we've just got to try and keep showing that.”