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Wolves’ win over fellow strugglers Everton is “only one step” on the path to Premier League survival, says manager Julen Lopetegui.
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s late goal lifted Wolves moff the bottom of the table as Spaniard Lopetegui became the first Wolves boss to win his first top-flight game since 1978.
“We have to enjoy our victory but we have not done anything yet,” Lopetegui said.
“We are happy but only for today.”
Lopetegui arrived at Molineux in early November and the pause for the World Cup appears to have provided the former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla boss with valuable time to work with a squad which saw only five of its players head to Qatar and is set to be reinforced by the arrival of Brazil forward Matheus Cunha in January.
Their first away win of the campaign at Goodison Park represented the first time they had scored more than one goal on the road since May and was in complete contrast to eight other occasions this season where they had mustered just a solitary point after conceding the opening goal.
“We conceded a goal and showed a good mentality. They [the players] continued working and trying to alter the situation, [which] will be very important for us and for our belief,” Lopetegui added.
“It is only three points and we know we have ahead of us a very hard task and we will continue working to improve a lot of things.
“I am aware of our position. We need good news for our fans and we are very happy for our fans and above all for my players as they have suffered a lot and they have to believe more in themselves.
“But this is only one step. We are in a bad position and we have to be ready tomorrow morning to start thinking about Manchester United [for the next match on Saturday]. When we win we are happy for two or three hours, no more.”
‘It was always going to be a tough year’
The result heaped more pressure on Everton manager Frank Lampard, whose side travel to defending champions Manchester City in their next fixture on 31 December (15:00 GMT).
The Blues have now lost their last four matches in all competitions and six of their previous eight league games, scoring just 12 times in their 16 fixtures so far this term.
Everton’s plight not been helped by having key forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin absent for prolonged periods, with the 25-year-old having played just six times this term.
Despite returning to training after a hamstring problem, the England striker was deemed not fit enough to play any role against Wolves and Lampard said the club’s lack of firepower is something they will try to address in January after being left in a precarious position, just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
“Unfortunately, if you are not clinical those things can happen in football and we got hit at the end,” Lampard said.
“It [a lack of goals] is a concern as if you can’t be clinical then it is difficult because it doesn’t give you a comforting game of being goals ahead. It’s an obvious one.
“We have Dominic hopefully coming back for City or Brighton. You can’t underestimate the power of losing a player that has been a big part of providing this club’s goal return for a few years alongside Richarlison [who joined Tottenham last summer].
“In my opinion, this was always going to be a tough year off the back of how the summer went.”
