Nuno vows to never abandon struggling Wolves players

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo has vowed to never abandon his Wolves players in their time of need.

Ricardo Horta condemned them to a 1-0 defeat to Braga in their opening Europa League Group K match on Thursday.

It was Wolves’ third straight loss and they remain winless to sit second bottom in the Premier League.

Nuno takes his squad to Crystal Palace on Sunday having never lost four in a row while in charge at Molineux and promised to stick by his squad.

He said: “One thing I don’t do, I never abandon a player. I don’t abandon a player, if they’re not performing well where can I find the solution to help him? This is what I do.

“They cannot have any doubts, the way we worked and the way we played is what got us here. This is what got us here from the Championship to the Europa League. No doubts, the way is clear.

“Those who came here, who are still integrating, they have to improve – and those who have been here longer. All of them and it’s a small squad so we need everyone to raise their standards and perform.

“Everyone, manager, coaches, staff must look for all the details that can help us in terms of recovering. This is what we did before and did it well.”

Wolves are 19th in the Premier League and could be bottom come Sunday if Watford pull off a shock at Manchester City on Saturday.

They have drawn three and lost two of their opening five domestic games having finished seventh last season and reached the FA Cup semi-final.

Wolves have also conceded eight goals in their last two top flight games, including a 5-2 defeat to Chelsea.

Nuno has enjoyed almost total success at Molineux having won the Sky Bet Championship in 2018 but remained pragmatic about their poor start to the season.

He added: “Not only at Wolves, life is made of ups and downs. To sustain is the most difficult thing, what can do you when you are down to go up again? It’s a reality.”