Cesar Peixoto praised his squad's spirit after they beat Sheffield United on Sunday thanks to a late goal from Raul Jimenez. Wolves had to stay patient in a physical contest at Bramall Lane, but the whole group, including the substitutes, stood up to claim their first Championship clean sheet of the season.
That shutout became even more valuable when Jimenez turned one point into three, and the head coach was proud of his players for producing a real team performance.
On the importance of the result, Peixoto said: "It’s a very important result for us. It’s an important away win at a difficult stadium. But it’s not only about the three points – the team, when we had the capacity, played our game. They had to fight together for the first balls and second balls. We managed the situations better. We stayed together until the end, scored the goal and I think we deserved the win.
"We created more chances and could have scored more, but it was important the way we played as a team. The players who came from the bench were amazing and really helped us. There was a ten-minute period in the second half when we lost a little stability, but the substitutes understood what the team needed in that moment. Raul, Tommy, Trippier, Toti and JJ did an amazing job to improve the team to stay competitive for 90 minutes, and we deserved the win."
On the result building confidence, he added: "Wins are very important for the confidence of the players. We’ve played three or four away games in a row. We lost at West Ham and then, like I said before, we didn’t have our best second half against Birmingham but we didn’t lose and it was important we didn’t lose two matches in a row. We drew there and today we won again.
"If you want to fight for promotion to the Premier League, you have to take points away from home too. But today I’m not only looking at the points. I’m looking at the soul of the team over the 90 minutes, the belief, the effort and the way the players fought in a difficult game. For me, it was a very good win."
The winning moment 😍 pic.twitter.com/tEHTmzqEcH
On managing Jimenez's workload, Peixoto said: "He’s 35 years old and he’s a very important player for us, but this week we have three games close together, so we have to manage his minutes. He’s important when he starts, like he has in the last four or five games, but today he came from the bench and showed great character as a captain.
"And it wasn’t only because he scored the goal. After we scored, the way he defended set-pieces. We aren’t a tall team, so those moments can sometimes be difficult for us. Rail is strong in the air and he dropped back to help the defence. We have to manage his minutes because there are more games coming."
On the impact of the substitutes, he said: "I spoke with the players about managing the moments of the game better. I think we learned from the last game and managed it better. We stayed more compact and competed better for first balls and second balls, which can sometimes be difficult for us. Today we had a team. Not only the starting eleven, but the players who came from the bench as well. Everybody went in the same direction, gave the same effort, improved the team and fought until the end. They believed until the end that we could score. We showed a big soul. We have to be consistent with that behaviour because in the Championship, quality alone isn’t enough. You need this spirit as well if you want to manage and win difficult games like this."
Source: www.wolves.co.uk — Read the original article
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