Bruno Lage hails 'fantastic' Wolves star Joao Moutinho

The 35-year-old put in a vintage performance to seal a deserved Wolves victory - their first away at United since 1980.

And Lage was beaming with his midfielder after the game, saying: “I can just say good things about Joao. Look at the way he comes every day to training, he’s a fantastic player. A top player with a long career.

“He’s hungry. He wants to continue to win and improve himself – he's one of the good examples we have here.

“He’s already had a solid career but even if you do a five against five exercise Joao wants to win, this is the kind of mentality I want in my team. Guys who come with a big personality and a big ambition."

Wolves dominated United throughout most of the game and limited them to few opportunities.

Their only downfall was not scoring some of their other glorious chances and Lage is calling for more.

He added: “It’s three points but more important than the victory is the way we played against this top team.

“We did well, especially in the first half, and created a lot of chances. I will say the same things when we don’t score, we need to continue to improve because the way we were creating chances, we deserved to score more goals.

“Sometimes we need to understand the opponent, sometimes we create those chances and sometimes we create less chances.

“The most important thing is when we look at the goals we concede and the goals we score, both 14, we are not a team to park the bus in front of our box. We are a team that like to play.

“It’s so important the people don’t confuse that. We are a team, when we have the ball, that wants to play our game, but when we don’t have the ball we need to protect our goal.

“We are playing well. We are a team when we have the ball and a team when we are defending."

Meanwhile, Lage has launched a passionate defence of the Wolves board.

Supporters have been calling for January signings and while Lage has also called for more players, the club are unlikely to make any big signings.

And when asked about recalling Ryan Giles from his loan at Cardiff, Lage said: "Today it is important to talk about the great performance and I promise I will answer your question in the next press conference.

"One thing is also important - I have a good relationship with boss. Me and Jeff (Shi) talk every day.

"The most important thing is we have that plan. As a manager I understand very well the economical moment of the club. When I talk that I need players, they know that I need and I'm not making pressure.

"People cannot use my words to attack everyone. We are here working as a team and we have one plan.

"I have a three-year contract and I promise to the fans we will create the team that we are dreaming of - and the team is there!

"We have a lot of quality players. For January we are waiting for Pedro Neto, Jonny, Yerson and Jordao is with us.

"The most important thing is we are working inside our building as a team, together, and we don't have any problems.

"I work and talk every day with my boss Jeff and with my sporting director Scott (Sellars)."