WOLVES ISSUE THEIR WAR CRY TO REMEMBER
VICTORY against Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest got the Wolves supporters singing again, and boss Paul Lambert is keen to give the fans even more to celebrate in future.
Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro both scored as Wolves won for the second time in six games since Lambert took charge to climb away from the relegation places.
It meant joyous scenes in the away end after the match, as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson led the Wolves fans’ chanting in the same booming clap that he had with Iceland at Euro 2016.
And Lambert is taking confidence from the progress being made every day on and off the pitch.
“I would pay the admission money just to see Bodvarsson doing that at the end,” he said. “It’s great to see – that’s the rapport, and I said when I first came in we need to get that rapport. That’s what can happen if you give them success.
“Night and day progress is being made. When you come into a football club you start to unearth things that have happened that have probably rocked them a little bit, but we take it through little steps at a time.
“I’m not going to say we’ll do everything great in a short space of time but if you can make progress that’s the main thing. It’s a much healthier position than when I first came in.”
Both sides had initially struggled to create opportunities in the first half, though Michael Mancienne, unmarked, missed a great chance to put Forest in front when he headed Mustapha Carayol’s header over on the half-hour.
In a game of few chances, it was a miss the hosts were made to rue and Costa fired Wolves in front on 40 minutes, shooting high into the net from a tight angle.
Ben Osborn’s glanced shot flashed wide across goal on 43 minutes as Forest chased an equaliser, and the winger shot wide again on 54 minutes from Carayol’s cross.
But as Forest’s frustration grew, Wolves’ high pressing began to force errors at the back and Costa’s free-kick was beaten away by Vladimir Stojkovic on 57 minutes.
Cavaleiro then seized upon a loose pass on 63 minutes but smashed over, and then hit the side-netting four minutes later after running on to Matt Doher- ty’s through ball and rounding Stojkovic.
But Wolves’ record signing finally sealed the victory on 79 minutes, coolly side-footing into the bottom corner after Dave Edwards won possession and the ball broke loose.
And Forest boss Philippe Montanier conceded his team have to accept they are in a relegation battle after their tenth defeat of the season.
“When you have taken just one point from nine, in our situation, you have to be ready to fight against relegation,” he said.
“I hope the players perform better because after the second part of the second half, we can’t afford to repeat that performance.
“We made too many big mistakes to get a positive result. We have big players injured but I think I have the squad [to cope] and it was a good opportunity for players to show what they could do.
“Too many players did not give a good performance. If four or five players are not playing their best it will make the team weak.”