Nuno Espirito Santo has warned his Wolves players to expect a tough test when they travel to south London to face Crystal Palace this weekend.
Wolves travel to Selhurst Park on Sunday still searching for their first win of the season in the Premier League, after a slow start to the new campaign with just three points from their opening five league fixtures.
The visitors also go into the game against Palace off the back of a 1-0 defeat in their opening Europa League group stage clash against Braga last night (Thursday), meaning Wolves have now lost three games in a row in all competitions.
And the Wolves head coach has spoken of the challenge facing his team against Palace this weekend, with the Eagles currently unbeaten at home in the Premier League with four points from their first two fixtures at Selhurst Park in the top flight this season.
“Crystal Palace are a very, very tough team; a team that has been playing with each other for a while now, they have a lot of complicities between them, good players, so it’s going to be tough, especially in a stadium that is tough to play against," he said, as quoted by Wolves' official club website.
“We’re going to have to go there and challenge ourselves, but Palace is tough. There’s no easy game in football.
“[Last season’s victory at Selhurst Park] can give us something to work, but they came here to Molineux and they won, so this is about the team, what is Crystal Palace now and where can I find their weakness so we can repeat what we did last season.”
Meanwhile, the Portuguese manager had a message for his players as they continue to search for a first win of the season in the league, as he called for an improved performance.
“If we perform well, that is the perfect scenario. But if we win without the performance, then we still have a problem. What we have to do is improve our performance," Nuno said.
“The players cannot have any doubts, there will never be doubts, because the way we work, the way we play, the ideas that we have is what has brought us here – from Championship to the Premier League and now Thursdays and Sundays, challenging in the Europe League.
“No doubts – the way is clear. That is the case for all of them, with no exception. Those that came here and are still integrating the idea of the team, they have to improve; those who are here long, those who’ve not had the best moments – all of them.
“With a small squad, we need all of them and everybody has to raise their standards and perform.”
