Wolves midfielder Joe Hodge keen to keep taking every opportunity
Joe Hodge is benefitting from training alongside 'top players' day in day out as well as the faith Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui has placed in him.
Hodge has featured in four out of five games under Lopetegui since he took over at Molineux - after being handed his first team opportunity before the World Cup break by interim manager Steve Davis.
And Hodge has grabbed that chance and is now focussing on learning off the players around him - as well as Lopetegui who has coached some of the best in the world.
He said: "I can’t complain about not getting opportunities, and to have some in the past few weeks has been really good for me. I’ve done my best to try and take them, but hopefully I can keep doing well and we’ll see how many more I can get.
“I’m here with top players like Ruben [Neves], Joao [Moutinho], Bouba [Traore] and Mathues [Nunes], they are all top footballers and top midfield players, so I’m learning off them every day in training.
“The gaffer has worked with some of the best players in the world in the past as well, so he’s definitely got knowledge we can take from and he’s sharing that with us every day.”
On Lopetegui, Hodge also explained that the Spaniard's attention to detail is like nothing he's ever seen before.
Hodge also believes you can already see the results of Lopetegui's hard work on the training field.
He added: "He’s just really on it with everything. He’s keeping our standards high, we’re working hard every day in training, working on every part of the pitch and I think you can see that from our performances recently, how much it’s improved and how much more of a team we look like.
“But he’s on it, we’re all working hard and we’re all focused every single day – there’s no days off. When we’re in, we’re working hard. You can’t turn up and slack off. But that is what you need to be successful as a team, so it’s been good.
“It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before, but it’s his attention to detail. He’s working with every player to try and improve us and I think that’s showing.”
