4 min read
7th Oct 2024
James Collins was delighted with the response from his players, as Wolves under-21s defeated Everton on Friday evening.
Following’s Monday’s disappointing loss at Derby County, the Old Gold ensured they got back to winning ways at Aggborough and did so in style, putting four past the Toffees inside an hour. Collins admitted post-match that the only disappointment was conceding two goals, and the head coach also spoke on the players showing togetherness, scoring from a well-worked set-piece and Tuesday evening’s trip to Wrexham in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
On beating Everton
“I thought after Monday night, a really tough night at Derby in horrendous conditions where at one point we conceded four goals in 12 minutes at the end of the first half, for the boys to respond four days later, and go 4-0 up against Everton, I thought was testament to the character.
“It was testament to the fact that they’re all together and they’re working for one goal, which is terrific.
“I thought we should have seen the game out much better. We were getting twitchy towards the end of the game, which you shouldn’t be.
“If you’re 4-0 up, you should have more control and see the game out better. I thought we didn’t see the game out well enough.
“We decided to go a little bit longer today after Monday, and work hard at keeping that clean sheet. It looked like that plan was working, and we’d scored some really good goals, but then the first goal rocked us a little bit. For the last 20 minutes, it sounds strange, but we were hanging on a bit.
“Overall, we’ve got to be delighted after Monday night. To beat Everton 4-2 is an achievement.”
On scoring from a clever set-piece
“Sharpsy (Ian Sharps) does the set-pieces and that’s something we’ve talked to them about – direct free-kicks and saying if you practice and practice and practice, we’ll let you take them. If not, we’ll come up with something clever, and that’s sort of the little challenge for the players.
“We felt that one would work and it’s great to see it work. I thought Fil (Mabete) was excellent throughout the game. The boy’s got bundles of character, he’s got to find ways to hone it and strategically be more clever with his play, but I thought his spirit and his drive heading set-pieces away with Pondy (Alfie Pond) as well, he helped, I thought he did really well tonight.”
On facing Wrexham on Tuesday
“It’s really exciting. I went to their first game in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy against Salford, and I think there was 6,700 there or something which, in that competition, you don’t normally get crowds quite as high as that.
“There’s obviously an excitement around Wrexham worldwide at the moment, and their squad for this competition is phenomenal.
“They’re second in League One, and their starting 11 and their second 11 could finish in the top half of League One.
“What a test to play against the likes of (Paul) Mullin etc for our boys. It’s a real challenge and we will try and rise to the challenge.
“We’ll be realistic. We know it’s a real tough ask with a young group and as I always say on those nights, you see a lot of high scores and freak scores.
“We’ll go there with a plan, and if we can show the spirit we showed tonight and show a little bit more quality, hopefully the supporters that come along will enjoy the night there. We will certainly enjoy having a go at it.”
