Nuno Espirito Santo admits that he is proud of his Wolves team despite their exit from the Europa League at the quarter- final stage.
In a narrow affair where the Wanderers rued an early missed penalty, a header by winger Lucas Ocampos two minutes from time turned out to just be about enough to see Sevilla edge into a semi- final tie against Manchester United.
Disappointed with result but satisfied with performance
Even though Santo was clearly disappointed by the end outcome as it means that his side will not be able compete in Europe next season, nevertheless he is still proud of his team’s efforts last night.
He told BT Sports “We have frustration, in the last minutes it is something that has happened to us many times. We required focus on a set piece.
“I am proud of the boys, we played a tough team and we had moments, small details, small margins. That happens in football. We came this far and now it is over.
“Let’s rest and look to the future. We need more players to help us it is a small squad”
Regular European football being the club’s aim
The Portuguese manager further went on to say that despite his side having yet another good campaign, there are areas that they must improve and develop on when going in to the 2020/21 season.
“We must be proud of ourselves, admit we made mistakes during the season that we need to rectify to compete at a high level. We must work harder and become stronger.
“We are here because we did things good the previous season. European football is something that we chase because we want to improve and compete against the best.
“The Premier League is challenging enough; it is like playing the Champions League every week”
Squad improvement key for Wolves progression and development
Finally, Santo acknowledged that in order to progress further as a club, added depth to the current squad is needed.
However at the same time, the Wolves manager is fully aware that it is important that they do not just recruit players for the sake of it in the summer.
“We should prepare well for next season and make good decisions to allow us to continue growing. It is time to reflect and analyse.
“The team that started the game is the same as the first season. We have made mistakes we cannot repeat. We need players who can make us stronger, no doubt about it.
“It is not about what we request. We operate on common sense and dialogue. Let’s look at our future and what we need. The club has been amazing. Started in the Championship. Making good decisions will help us to be stronger”