Gary O’Neil lamented the lack of quality from his Wolves side as they struggled to break down Nottingham Forest’s defence in their draw at Molineux.
The head coach felt Matheus Cunha’s goal was the only time the Old Gold players showed what they are capable of, but by earning another point at home, Wolves extended their unbeaten home streak to six matches, leaving O’Neil with mixed emotions.
On drawing with Forest
“I thought in the first half we did really well to get back into it against a side who came and sat deep, but got an early goal which we knew was going to be a real test from that moment as we played straight into Forest’s game plan.
“And from then, I’m just really disappointed because we lacked quality to break down a very defensive set-up. We didn’t find any ways of getting in behind or creating enough. I’m disappointed on those bits with the ball, but pleased with the work the lads have put in this week.
“They’ve stayed fully committed today in a tough game and gave everything they could, but we need to improve the quality a little bit. We’re missing two of our better one-v-one players who play on the side in Rayan [Ait-Nouri] and Pedro [Neto], who definitely would have given us something against their back five.
“But all in all, the work for the week, to go to the Emirates and then have the two home games, to take four points is a decent return, but we’re probably all feeling as the fans feel, just frustrated that we didn’t show more quality and more oomph to cause them some problems.”
On Cunha’s equaliser
“It was a really good goal, a really good team goal. How we managed to break down the back five like we did at that point was very, very good, it was great play and a great finish. But I was disappointed that was one of our only ones.
“I thought after that moment we would be able to compose ourselves a little bit better. But for Matheus Cunha, that’s five goals this season, and Channy [Hwang] on eight, so we need to keep pushing, we need to get better, but 19 points is a decent return.
“There was an awful lot of talent on that Forest bench today, so for us to have 70 per cent possession and be in control, is the first step and then we need to make sure we’re better when we have it because possession doesn’t win you any games.”
On build-up to the Wolves goal
“It definitely wasn’t our throw in, but a throw in doesn’t lead directly to a goal, a lot of things happened between that and there will be loads of little decisions which have gone the wrong way.
“But if you’d have watched some of wrong decisions which have gone against us in more key areas, it was just a throw in, so they should have defended the throw in better. There were no complaints from me about officials today, more worried about us and how we can get better.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 9, 2023
On lacking quality
“We didn’t show enough quality really. There were too many technical turnovers of the ball and we got into some good situations, but loose touches would force us to go backwards and we’d have to recycle it.
“There was a technical breakdown today and I understand it, but I don’t accept it. We need to improve if we want to progress and want to get better and better.
“There wasn’t enough quality on the day, but the lads have put in a big shift this week, so when you’re tired, technical quality can go down a little bit. They looked tired towards the end and I tried to put subs on which didn’t really help, didn’t make us any better.”
On extending unbeaten home run
“There’s no doubt we’ve been better against the teams who come on to us, and I understand why, but it’s important to review the game, but it’s also important for me to review the group and see how far we’ve come.
“We’re 16 games in and the group are buying into everything. We’ve got a really good points return and probably better than most people outside this football club expected us to have. It’s disappointing today, but it’s another game at home where we haven’t lost, it’s six unbeaten here, which is impressive.”
