Wagner wary of wounded Wolves side

ENGLAND even surpassed Gareth Southgate’s expectations in a memorable year that ended with a stirring comeback against World Cup semi-final foes Croatia and progress to the inaugural Nations League Finals.

Asked if he could have envisaged 2018 panning out so well, England manager Southgate said: “No, I don’t think so.

“I am hugely proud of all the players and all of the staff because we’ve grown together, we’ve improved every step.

“I think Sunday was another big occasion, big experience. Plenty of pressure on the game, expectation, but they coped with it really well.

“I thought we played so well in the first half and had good chances, should have been ahead in the game – then had to show another side, the resilience and the character to stay in it.

“We had a five, 10-minute period after Croatia scored where there were a couple of counter-attacks, and then we may be a new England, but we score from a long throw and a wide free-kick, so maybe nothing changes!”

England’s win sees them top Group A4 ahead of Spain and World Cup finalists Croatia, whose late collapse at Wembley saw them relegated from the top tier of the Nations League.

It was the perfect end to 2018 for an England side that now looks forward to an exciting year, with Euro 2020 qualification kicking off in March before a semi-final and potential shot at silverware in the finals to be held in Portugal. HUDDERSFIELD Town returned to their PPG Canalside training ground this week after starting preparations for the Wolves game in Marbella.

David Wagner took his Premier League squad away to Spain during the international break so they could work together with a change of scenery after picking up four points against Fulham and West Ham United.

It is something they have done in each of the last two seasons, but it appears this time the head coach has been acutely aware of the need to make sure his players are razor sharp throughout their build-up to Sunday’s Molineux clash (4pm). Town will face a Wolves side who put three successive defeats to Watford, Brighton and Spurs behind them by scoring a superb point against Arsenal at the Emirates last time out.

And had it not been for a goal by Henrikh Mkhitaryan four minutes from time, it would have been a stunning win for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, who led from the 13th minute with a goal by Ivan Cavaleiro.

Wolves are now without a win in four top-flight games and they have had much to ponder during this month’s two-week break from action – most it positive.

Having held both Manchester City and Manchester United, Wolves once again proved against Arsenal they are a handful for anyone at this level.

They are a frightening force on the counter thanks to Raul Jimenez and Helder Costa.

At the back, former Town player Conor Coady and Ryan Bennett frustrated Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette until the Gunners finally came alive in the closing stages.

In Morgan GibbsWhite, they have an exciting young talent, while Adama Traore added more energy and pace to the forward line when he went on and is arguably the biggest danger to Town.

So pace and wide threat are the key components to Wolves’ attack, much the same as Watford, who thumped Town 3-0 in embarrassing fashion at Vicarage Road at the end of last month. On that day, Town were strangely out of sorts, sluggish in thought and deed and defensively inept – something they cannot afford in the Black Country on Sunday. So it was interesting to note that Town’s tough sessions in Marbella were rounded off with some ‘intense, competitive, seven-a-side matches.’ It’s reported the games featured ‘a lot of passion, energy and spirit,’ with ‘big tackles, some great finishes and a lot of teamwork.’ Those qualities – with genuine quickness of thought – are going to be essential for Town to take anything at Molineux. Anything along the lines of the Watford failure will be disastrous, but Town have shown enough in the two games since against Fulham and West Ham to suggest their performance in Hertfordshire was a horrible blip. Town fans will hope so, as will Wagner, his assistant Christoph Buehler and first-team coach Andrew Hughes – who put together what seem to have been some very productive sessions in Spain.

Anything along the lines of the Watford failure will be disastrous