NEIL: FANS CAN SILENCE WOLVES
Championship, Deepdale: 3pm CONOR COADY took a step back to go forwards, and his heart-rending decision is reaping great rewards.
The Wolves defender was a Liverpool fan, born and bred, grew up through the ranks at Anfield, but had to leave his boyhood club to get regular games.
Coady, 24, has now established himself as a key figure in Wolves’ push towards the Premier League, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s leaders are threatening to run away with the Championship.
It is an exciting new lease of life for Coady, who also played all the way through the England ranks up to the Under-20s.
He has caught the eye as an outstanding ball-playing centrehalf and is desperate to help Wolves get back into the top flight again.
Coady (celebrating Alfred N’diaye’s goal against QPR, above) said: “It was a difficult decision to leave Liverpool, but I knew it was something I had to do to play regularly and improve.
“Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool manager at the time) was brilliant with me. Sheffield United was a fantastic experience, then Huddersfield but, when Wolves came up, I had no hesitation at all.
“I knew what a big club it was before I joined but, when you get there, it’s only then you realise just how big.
“The owners have been fantastic, the manager this season has been fantastic, and they have taken the club to a whole new level.”
Coady grew up admiring Jamie Carragher, and Wolves boss Nuno has also given him new confidence to develop his game. Michael Keane took a similar route to kickstart his career and Harry Maguire has also got into the England set-up after coming up through the divisions.
“You try and pick up something from everyone you work with. I grew up watching Jamie Carragher and it was such an honour to train with Liverpool’s first team,” said Coady.
“The way he reads the game, organises defences, it really helped me develop. And then working with the manager at Wolves has pushed me on again. He’s absolutely top class.
“He has managed at a high level with Porto in the Champions League and you can see that from what he does in training and the PRESTON manager Alex Neil has urged the Deepdale fans to help give his team the edge today.
Ten-man North End went down 3-2 at Molineux in October, but have lost just one of their past 14 way he goes about his work. He has developed my game and has his own idea of playing.
“He made it clear he wanted to stick with his idea, no matter who we were playing. No matter who the opposition is, he wants to play good football.
“His man-management is fantastic – he paints pictures in your mind, so you can pick up tactics, and he is so good with the lads, he breeds confidence.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been surprised at how well we’ve done because we always had confidence in ourselves but the manager has built on that.
“The Championship is such a tough division. Last week we played QPR and they gave us such a hard game. It means you cannot take it for granted.
“We’re not thinking about promotion, because we’ve still got 15 massive games left, starting with Preston.” matches. “Our fans won’t want them coming and having a party at our place and, equally, we’ll want to make sure we can quieten them,” Neil (left) said.
“We’ve got to create a good atmosphere and hope our fans are the ones celebrating come the final whistle.”
Neil is sure the runaway leaders can be beaten. He added: “Every team has vulnerabilities. We exposed some of Wolves’ last time.” Championship: Loftus Road, 3pm