Wolves have work to do as promising season fizzles out, says O´Neil

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil says there is a “lot of work to be done” at Molineux ahead of next season, after their downturn continued with a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were on target as Wolves were beaten in their final home game of the campaign, with the in-form Eagles making it five wins in six matches.

Wolves have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions (two draws, seven defeats), a run which began with a dramatic FA Cup quarter-final collapse against Coventry City in March.

After beating Fulham 2-1 on March 9, O’Neil’s team sat eighth in the Premier League table, just one point adrift of the top seven.

However, injuries to key attackers Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha stunted their momentum and a once-promising campaign will now fizzle out to a bottom-half finish.

O’Neil has previously said Wolves will not be able to spend big in the transfer market ahead of 2024-25, but he knows they need to strengthen.

“There’s lots that we have to improve,” he said. “In the first two thirds of the season we looked like a team chasing Europe, and in the last third of the season you could see the issues that we’ve had and those have come to light.

It ends in defeat at Molineux.

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— Wolves (@Wolves) May 11, 2024

“As a football club, we need to have a real good look at the last few weeks.

“People are starting to come back, and we still haven’t managed to regain that impetus and momentum that we had before.

“There’s a lot of work to be done between now and the start of next season, and a tough away game next week at Anfield.”

Wolves go to Liverpool for their last game of the season next week, as the Reds’ final opponents under departing boss Jurgen Klopp.