Nuno wants better first halves after Wolves' draw at Newcastle
Nuno Espirito Santo has recognised Wolves' need to start games sharper after a much-improved second-half display saw them come from behind to draw with Newcastle.
Jamaal Lascelles opened the scoring for the Magpies but Jonny Castro Otto levelled for Nuno's side as it finished 1-1 at St James' Park.
The result makes it eight games unbeaten in all competitions for Wolves, while also carrying on the knack of underperforming in the first period.
Based on the first 45 minutes alone, Wolves would be 18th in the Premier League. Thirteen of their last 15 goals have come in the second half as well.
And Nuno said: "We could have been more dominant in the first half and controlled the game better.
"Managing the game depends a lot on who scores first, and I think we’ve punished ourselves too many times this season.
"We concede first, and then it requires a lot of effort.
"We cannot concede first. Let’s try to hurt them and control the game better."
Wolves shifted from a 3-5-2 formation to 3-4-3 at half-time – just as they did in Thursday's Europa League victory at Slovan Bratislava – and were better from that point.
When asked why they are beginning slowly, Nuno said: "It’s many things. If you look at how we conceded the goal, we allowed crosses into the box.
"We must improve on that. If I knew why, it would not have happened today.
"I’m going to work now to try to find out why.
"But we’ve had 20 games already this season and to show this character – stamina, energy – shows a lot about how the boys prepare themselves."
Matt Doherty could have won it at the end for Wolves, heading just wide from Raul Jimenez's cross.
"The second half was very good. We controlled it in defence, we were solid for almost all of the counter-attacks," added Nuno.
"And we created a lot of chances. We created clear chances in the second half, where we should be more clinical.
"But it’s not a case of being disappointed. It’s something we have to improve."
