Comeback king Jack Price hopes to be a Wolves mainstay
He's made a fair few Wolves comebacks in his time – and now Jack Price is hoping for another.
The popular midfielder seems to have been perpetually in and out of favour in recent seasons – and those extremes have been magnified in the past few weeks.
At the end of May it looked like Price was set to leave the club – but fast forward to July and he's not only starting Nuno Espirito Santo's first game in charge, but also bossing it with a man of the match performance.
"It’s another Wolves comeback hopefully!" Price told the Express & Star. "I’ve done it a few times so I’m sure I’ll do it again.
"It was an uncertain time at the start of the summer, I wasn’t in the team at the end of the season.
"I wasn’t too sure if I’d be here. The club gave me a year option but I wasn’t sure if that was to keep me a bit longer or what. The new man has come in and seems to like the way I play so hopefully I fit into his plans.
"Obviously I want to stay, I’ve been here all my life. So I’ll keep my head down."
Price excelled in a new-look 3-4-3 formation in Nuno's first game in charge, the 1-0 win over Werder Bremen on Wednesday.
He believes it's a formation that will fit his style of play – and he's keen to make a big impression on the new boss.
"It suits me," he added. "There’s a lot of options out wide and through the middle. The gaffer's remit is for me to get on the ball. He wants us to play a lot of football this year – on the floor out from the back. Whether the Wolves fans will like it at times I’m not sure! I think you need a bit of both.
"It’s nice to play good football but it’s not always like that in the Championship. You need to get the balance.
"We hope we can build on the win – it’d be nice to go unbeaten throughout pre-season, it always helps.
"It’s more to do with fitness and the games and minutes, we if we win the next five games it wouldn’t half help with confidence going into the season.
"I got on the ball a lot against Bremen, which was nice. It was a good start for me and a good result against a good side.
"We worked on the formation, more on defensive shape and what options you have when you get the ball.
"A lot of things seem to suit me under his style of play. And as a person we’re getting to know him and the staff more, they all speak good English and they’ve been great. The new signings have mingled. There have been some good signs.
"The double sessions are tough and sometimes we have gym in between, but it’s good because the sessions are all based on football from the first day."
It's certainly a world away from last year's pre-season trip to Cork in the final days of Kenny Jackett's reign. Only Andy Lonergan had been signed so far that summer and there was huge uncertainty surrounding the club with Fosun's takeover happening towards the end of the Ireland trip.
Price, who has made 106 appearances for the club, said: "All the lads that have been here the last couple of years think the club’s giving it a real good go this year.
"Last season in Cork we didn’t know if we were going to sign any players or what coach was going to be here.
"Now it’s more settled and signings have been made early. I think they’ll bring in a few more and the calibre of players has gone up."
There's excitement in Austria ahead of the new season but Carl Ikeme isn't far from anyone's thoughts.
As an academy graduate himself, 24-year-old Price has known Ikeme for years and said he felt like a relative to him.
"It's such a shock when you hear terrible news like that," Price added. "We know the character he is, he's such a strong bloke.
"I've looked up to him through the years, he's like a father or a brother to a lot of the lads.
"The lads have sent their best wishes. I spoke to him and it'd be nice to go and visit him soon.
"The support was brilliant, you had top keepers and top clubs on Twitter, it's crazy to think of the support and I'm sure that'll give Carl a good lift."
