Southampton manager Mark Hughes has spoken of his admiration for Wolves and their style of play, but is more than confident his side can pose plenty of difficult questions of them this weekend.
Saints head to Molineux on Saturday for a meeting with the Premier League new boys, who have enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team have lost just one of their opening eight games across all competitions – away at Leicester in the top flight – taking points off Manchester City and Manchester United along the way.
However, despite Wolves’s strong form, Hughes has confidence that Saints can give them plenty of trouble.
"They're a very good team playing with confidence,” said Hughes. “They've come into the Premier League with a spring in their step.
mark hughes
if we can go to anfield and ask questions of a very good liverpool team then certainly we can do that of a wolves team.
southampton manager
“They're obviously coming in off the back of a really strong season last year and, when a newly-promoted team comes into the Premier League, they want to start brightly, they want to start well, they want to have good results early on, which they've been able to do, because that breeds confidence and helps you to understand the demands of the Premier League, so they've ticked a lot of boxes already.
“The way they play is different – it's really expansive, they have a lot of width and a lot of depth to their play, so it's quite difficult to get pressure on them in good areas, but that's obviously the challenge for ourselves to make sure that we press when we can, make sure we have good numbers in areas where we can realistically win the ball back and then break from there.
“I’ve been really impressed with them. They've got good talent in good areas – key areas of the field – which we'll have to be wary of, and they've got the benefit of a little bit of continuity. I think they've kept the same side for every Premier League game up to this point, which is a luxury not many of us have had, so they're benefiting from that as well.
“They'll be a challenge, they're at home and they've got a big crowd that will will them on, but I just sense we're looking forward to the game, not withstanding the result last weekend, but if we can go to Anfield and ask questions of a very good Liverpool team then certainly we can do that of a Wolves team.”
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