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Premier League strugglers Wolves are creating a new identity, insists Edwards

  /  autty

Rob Edwards believes that Wolves are creating a new identity as they look to turn around their fortunes in the Premier League.

Wolves are bottom of the league following a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last time out, though they host Nottingham Forest in their next match on Wednesday.

Edwards has lost both of his two games at the helm so far after a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace in his first match in charge.

However, Edwards could be confident against Forest, having taken four points from Sean Dyche’s Everton side in the 2023-24 season when he was Luton Town manager (W1 D1).

Dyche was one of only two managers that Edwards avoided defeat against in both games that campaign, along with Eddie Howe at Newcastle United.

Edwards insisted that Wolves are heading in the right direction but admitted they must start to win more points sooner rather than later.

“We need to become us, and if we do these things consistently, they give us a good chance of getting points and winning games,” said Edwards.

“I can see a belief there. They can see that we’re going the right way, and they all knew and felt that it was a good performance.

“It wasn’t like I was standing in front of them and lying. I’m not searching for positives, there was a lot there, so it certainly makes my job easier.

“Every game is really important for us now with the position that we’re in. Points are really important. But we’ve got to give ourselves the best chance of doing that, and that’s with the performance.”

Forest saw a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions come to an end after a 2-0 loss to Brighton on Sunday.

They had a long injury list heading into that fixture, with Ola Aina, Murillo, Douglas Luiz, Chris Wood and Oleksandr Zinchenko all sidelined.

Dyche admitted it has been difficult not to rush players back from injury, but believes they will have many absentees returning soon.

“Murillo had an awkward situation against Malmo where he had to come off as a precaution and it didn’t settle down quite in time, but it was touch and go,” said Dyche.

“But we don’t want to lose another player when we’re trying to get everyone back fit, and if you lose someone to a hamstring injury that usually isn’t a few days.

“These are the problems when you have a longer injury list; you’re trying to juggle people and make sure they have enough time on the grass to make sure they’re fit enough to not re-injure.

“We’re trying to get there, but there are better signs that we’re getting players back on the grass and training with us.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wolves – Andre

Despite falling to a narrow defeat against Villa, Wolves midfielder Andre showed plenty of reasons for optimism.

He won a game-high 10 duels (66.7%), won three of his six attempted tackles, recorded both the most touches (99) and successful passes (69) in the match, while also winning possession back eight times.

Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Forest captain Gibbs-White netted their third in a 3-0 win at Anfield and could score in consecutive away Premier League appearances for a second time.

He did so in December-January last season, scoring against current manager Dyche’s Everton side and then his former club Wolves.