Wolves boss praises 'positive' debuts despite Chelsea defeat

Rob Edwards has hailed 'real positives' Angel Gomes and Adam Armstrong for their Wolves debuts, despite the defeat to Chelsea.

The pair of deadline day signings came straight into the starting XI at Molineux, as Armstrong picked up an assist and A.Gomes caught the eye with his progressive passing.

Despite his frustration at the result, the head coach was pleased with his two new additions.

"I thought they were real positives," he said. 

"I thought they played really well and made a very good first impression in front of the home supporters, which was good, and obviously in tough conditions as well. 

"The actual weather conditions and in the way the game went as well, they stood up to things and showed a lot of character. 

"The things that we'd asked of them, which we know they've got. But also, both of them played very well."

Adam Armstrong (Photo by Brett Patzke - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)placeholder image
Adam Armstrong (Photo by Brett Patzke - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

With Andre suffering from a calf knock, A.Gomes had the opportunity to partner Joao Gomes in midfield.

The England international was practical and productive in possession and always looked for a forward pass, as Edwards was keen to highlight his quality on the ball.

"That was the reason for him coming in," Edwards said when asked about A.Gomes passing forward.

"He can link as a six and give us something in the build-up, but I think once he gets turned and facing up as well, hopefully then he's got a bit more of a killer pass. Maybe something that we've not quite had. 

"You see a little bit of that today, he's got that nice sort of spinny one where he can see people and he sees those runs, especially against Chelsea, because we worked on it with them being aggressive.

"They were a bit different with how they pressed and I think early on we maybe caused them one or two problems because we were a little bit different to maybe what they'd have planned for as well. 

"But he's got those forward passes in the locker and I think hopefully we'll see a lot more of it now, the fitter and the more integrated he gets into the team."

Armstrong's assist saw him flick the ball on for Tolu Arokodare to net his second top flight goal.

Edwards believes the towering striker is still improving and is keen to progress further.

"That's what we're trying to do, we're trying to change things and we're trying to progress in the hardest league in the world," Edwards said.

"The window has been quite busy with outs, there's a couple of fresh lads that have come in that I thought were excellent and then Tolu's got another goal.

"He's like all of us, we're trying to progress and move forward and get better. 

"So it's great for him, really, really good. He did some really good things and worked hard for the team."

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