Wolverhampton Wanderers were held to a goalless draw by Nottingham Forest in a Premier League game at the City Ground on Wednesday night, with Tolu Arokodare a key figure for the visitors after a frustrating first half.
Wolves struggled to impose themselves early on, with Forest’s relentless pressing stifling their attacking rhythm.
Speaking to Wolves' official website, manager Rob Edwards admitted his team had played better and still lost on previous occasions, but highlighted Forest’s intensity as a key factor in the first half.
"We’ve played better and lost this season. Definitely. No doubt about it. But I’ll give credit to Forest for the intensity they played with, they really pressed us and we weren’t able to build, and we didn’t go well into Tolu in the first half," he said.
Bringing Arokodare to the forefront of the attack sparked a clear change in momentum after the interval.
"We needed a focal point and I thought Tolu gave us that in the second half, and we were better on second balls and duals – the basics of football – it was nothing pretty or sexy, but we did see more of that in the second half, no doubt," Edwards explained.
Arokodare's impact gave Wolves greater attacking fluency, with one late move bringing Mateus Mané close to a dramatic winner.
Reflecting on the moment, Edwards said: "It would have been typical of football really. I tied to stay quite calm and sit down thinking here we go. This would have been an amazing moment for us, but it wasn’t to be.
“But that’s what I like about the lads, it wasn’t just one player trying to get up around Tolu on the counter, it was three or four, and I would have loved us to take advantage of that moment, but it wasn’t to be"
Arokodare has registered six goal involvements (5 goals, 1 assist) in twenty five appearances in all competitions since his deadline day move from Racing Genk last summer.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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