Brentford v Wolves preview: Battered and bruised, it’s time for Wolves’ reaction

The manner of the 4-0 defeat to Leicester was more damning than the scoreline as Wolves once again rolled over too easily.

They created one or two chances after a bright start, but as soon as they fell behind their heads dropped.

International footballers must have more character than that and it is time for Wolves to become a bit nastier – and they’ll certainly need it against Brentford.

The hosts may have won just one game in their last six and are in the middle of a dip in form, but they still pose a threat and have goals in their team.

Ivan Toney, more than most, will be a nuisance and Wolves must be prepared for a scrap.

Interim head coach Steve Davis has been calling for more fight from his side, but it fell on deaf ears against Leicester. He admitted after the game that he did not see enough fight and desire and that he would relay those messages this week.

Now, it is time for those same players to provide a reaction. The players played a big part in Wolves’ announcement about keeping Davis in charge for the meantime, as they have responded well to his methods in training, but they must now translate that to the field.

Davis knows that, too, and feels his team must compete with more vigour.

“We lost 3-0 at Chelsea and we didn’t get a yellow card, so that summed up what I’m talking about in terms of competing better, particularly in the middle of the pitch for second balls,” Davis said.

“Okay, Forest and Chelsea are different opposition but coming after Chelsea, those stats were miles better for the Forest game after having that conversation.

“At Palace, the second balls won was better than Forest and we lost the game. But this is a big part of the game now – you can’t gain control if you can’t win on transitions.

“We have the players who can do it, so it’s just a case of doing better and improving what we’re doing.”

When asked if he does not mind his players taking yellow cards in the right area, Davis added: “Not at all, no. It’s a professional part of the game now.

“Sometimes you hear on the TV ‘that’s a good booking’ because maybe a player is breaking an attack up or something like, so I think you’ve got to play that game sometimes.

“I’m not saying we’re dirty or reckless with what we do, because everything has to be in control and done in a moderate way as well, but that’s the fight we’ve got to show and those are the professional parts of the game we’ve got to be better at. We’ve got to continue doing that and I’ve seen we are doing that now.”

Nelson Semedo could be recalled for Jonny Castro Otto, who continues to struggle, while Hugo Bueno will hope to keep his place at left-back.