Wolves were held to a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon much to the frustration of the fans.
It was a poor start from the hosts as Harry Toffolo opened the scoring for Forest. O’Neil’s side then got themselves back into the game through Matheus Cunha and looked likely to go on to win the game at half-time.
However, in the second period, Wolves looked sloppy at Molineux, with little coming off in attack. In fact, Forest had the best chances and even hit the bar.
It was a massive contrast in halves as the game was there for the taking, especially after their 1-0 win against Burnley earlier in the week.
Looking back on the game, there was one key mistake O’Neil made that cost Wolves the win.
Tommy Doyle was needed for Wolves
Mario Lemina ran the show for Wolves in the first half. His physical presence on the pitch meant that Forest couldn’t get close to him as he mopped up any threats they threw at him.
The midfielder also helped to create the equaliser with a fantastic ball to Sarabia before he pulled it back for Cunha to slice it into the net.
However, after picking up a knock, Lemina was forced off the field around the hour mark.
In his place, O’Neil opted to go for Boubacar Traore. While the substitute didn’t have a bad game, he just wasn’t what Wolves needed.
Traore resecured the midfield after a good period of play by Forest, but once the hosts got back on top, Traore struggled to break the visitors down.
Tommy Doyle would have been perfect in his place. The Manchester City loanee is one of Wolves’ most creative players.
This was shown against Bournemouth where he came on to control the play and helped turn the score on its head.
What was worse was the fact that Doyle didn’t make it onto the pitch at all against Forest and stayed on the bench throughout.
Gary O’Neil frustrated with Wolves’ quality
By the end of the game, it was clear that Wolves didn’t have enough quality to break down Forest.
Wolves’ only real chance was the goal, with little else coming off.
Looking back on the game, O’Neil highlights this as he explains his frustrations.
He told Wolves: “I thought in the first half we did really well to get back into it against a side who came and sat deep, but got an early goal which we knew was going to be a real test from that moment as we played straight into Forest’s game plan.
“And from then, I’m just really disappointed because we lacked quality to break down a very defensive set-up. We didn’t find any ways of getting in behind or creating enough. I’m disappointed on those bits with the ball, but pleased with the work the lads have put in this week.
“They’ve stayed fully committed today in a tough game and gave everything they could, but we need to improve the quality a little bit. We’re missing two of our better one-v-one players who play on the side in Rayan [Ait-Nouri] and Pedro [Neto], who definitely would have given us something against their back five.
“But all in all, the work for the week, to go to the Emirates and then have the two home games, to take four points is a decent return, but we’re probably all feeling as the fans feel, just frustrated that we didn’t show more quality and more oomph to cause them some problems.”