Alfred in push for the Prem
SUPERSUB Alfred N’Diaye claims Wolves have a squad good enough for the Premier League.
N’Diaye, 27, revealed he will join the club permanently in a £9m move after he set up Bright Enobakhare to score the opener before stabbing home Leo Bonatini’s cross in the third minute of added time.
The Senegal ace found Enobakhare with his first touch after replacing Romain Saiss in the 80th minute only for Adam Jackson’s blockbuster to level for Barnsley.
Wolves’ third win in eight days stretched their unbeaten run to five in the Championship and moved them up to second place.
N’Diaye is convinced Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are ready to go up.
“We are one of the best teams in the Championship – it is a squad for the Premier League,” said the midfielder. “If we fight and work well, we will go to the Premier League.”
Best
N’Diaye is on a seasonlong loan from Villarreal but a deal is in place for him to return to England permanently after spells with Hull and Sunderland.
“There is an agreement,” he added. “So I hope I will give my best all season to get into the Premier League and stay here.
“I haven’t come here for a few months. I’m a Wolverhampton player. I don’t think all season ‘I’ll go back to Villareal’.”
Nuno praised N’Diaye, saying: “Running is not enough – you have to run with the sense of knowing where you have to run. He gave us that, the physicality of the game.”
Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom believes his side will improve after one point out of the last nine left them fourth from bottom. “We won’t be down the bottom,” he said,
“We work our socks off and I back myself, the staff and these players to get better because they know I won’t accept anything different.”
Heckingbottom insisted his side should have had a penalty after Danny Batth shoved Tom Bradshaw. “Yes, it was a penalty,” he said.
“I’m not here to talk about refs but they always find a way into the headlines.”