I Must “Fight” To The Scrap! Gary O’Neil Gave Reason For The Statement

Wolves are ready to fight and scrap no matter what’

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has declared his team are “ready to fight” regardless of the support from the stands, following their 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. Despite Trevoh Chalobah putting Palace ahead, O’Neil quickly made tactical changes, bringing on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Mario Lemina and Goncalo Guedes for Pablo Sarabia, Toti Gomes and Tommy Doyle, a move that initially drew criticism from the home fans.

However, the substitutions proved effective as Lemina and Guedes were instrumental in Wolves gaining the lead before Marc Guehi’s equaliser for Palace. O’Neil praised his squad’s resilience amidst the challenging atmosphere, stating: “An unbelievable response, for the stadium to feel the way it did, the noises being made towards myself and the substitutions, to see a team respond and climb back on top takes a lot of doing

He expressed confidence in his players’ commitment, saying: “I’m confident in this group they will always give something whether the stadium are with us or turn on us. We’re ready to fight and scrap no matter what.”

O’Neil avoided delving into the broader issues at hand, focusing instead on the need to win matches: “It’s not the time for me to speak overly, honestly about the bigger situation because whatever I say will be seen as excuses – I’m not interested because we need to win football matches.”

He concluded by emphasising the immediate return to work in preparation for their next game against Southampton: “We get back to work now on the way home to make sure we get ready for Southampton.”

Crystal Palace were left frustrated as what seemed to be a last-gasp winner was disallowed when Jose Sa’s fumble allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta to score, only for referee Anthony Taylor to rule that Daniel Munoz had fouled the keeper. Oliver Glasner, feeling hard done by, commented: “We were close to winning it with the last situation. I watched it after the game and it’s a 50-50 decision.”

He added, “If it’s a foul, VAR can’t overrule it but in the other 98 minutes there were many duels in midfield where he didn’t whistle a foul so I think if he judged this situation the same way the other 98 minutes before he would’ve allowed the goal.”

Glasner also noted, “We were unlucky in the situation – but we could’ve decided the game in moments when we had momentum on our side.”

In other news, Adam Wharton was absent from the trip to Wolverhampton due to a groin issue requiring surgery.

The 20 year old England international later confirmed on Instagram that the operation was successful, saying: “Successful op, back soon.”