We’ll definitely be fine – Gary O’Neil buoyed by late Wolves rally at Brighton
Winless Wanderers snatched only a second point of the season.
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Your support makes all the difference.Manager Gary O’Neil said Wolves’ dramatic fightback against high-flying Brighton reaffirmed his confidence the club will “definitely” avoid Premier League relegation.
Winless Wanderers snatched only a second point of the season after late goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha salvaged a 2-2 draw at the Amex Stadium.
Following five successive top-flight defeats, the result lifted O’Neil’s side off the bottom of the table ahead of crunch home clashes with fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton.
Cunha sensationally fired home via a deflection in the third minute of stoppage time after Ait-Nouri halved the deficit in the 88th minute.
Danny Welbeck’s third goal in as many games and Evan Ferguson’s first since last November had put the Seagulls in complete control.
“My main thing around today is how deep they’ve had to dig to achieve something here today,” O’Neil said of his players.
“Not just because we’re 2-0 down, but we’re 2-0 down and we’ve not won a game yet and they’ve still managed to find a way.
“We’ll definitely be fine this season and that only reaffirms my thoughts.”
O’Neil did little to hide his sense of injustice following last weekend’s controversial last-gasp 2-1 loss to Manchester City and could hardly contain his delight at full-time.
He had been braced for some more difficult questions from the media after Ferguson’s 85th-minute finish looked set to extend his side’s miserable run of form in their ninth league fixture this term.
“Coming back late gives everyone a lift,” said O’Neil. “It’s only what we deserved from the game. The second-half performance, we were the dominant side.
“It ended up a little bit crazy at the end but I’m delighted for the boys. To still be able to keep fighting speaks a lot.
“At 2-0 down at 85 minutes, I’m thinking, ‘some tough questions coming again here’.
“(But) once you score, this group can be tough to stop when they get some positive momentum and energy.”
Brighton only had themselves to blame for the late collapse as they squandered a four-on-one situation, prior to being punished by the leveller on the counter-attack.
Seagulls head coach Fabian Hurzeler rued a lack of maturity and professionalism from his players.
The German was unhappy with Albion’s response to going 2-0 ahead as they blew the chance to climb to fourth.
“In the end, of course we lost two points and we failed today in our development,” said Hurzeler.
“We were not mature enough, not professional enough to win this game, so we have to learn quick from this.
“If you don’t win games like this in a beautiful way, then you have to win it in an ugly way.
“We had the big chance to go for the third goal, we missed this and then we get punished and that was a thing where we are not acting professional and we have to learn from this. That’s very important.
“This team is very young with a lot of potential but these moments show if you stay now together, if you learn from it, if you show personality, if you show character, and that’s what I expect now.”
Brighton suffered a blow before kick-off when captain Lewis Dunk, who was set to make his 250th Premier League appearance, injured his calf in the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by Igor Julio.
Asked about his skipper, Hurzeler replied: “He will have a scan. He has a small issue with his muscle but I can’t say anything (more).”