Julen Lopetegui felt Wolves stars didn’t always show mental strength when he first arrived

Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui had doubts about the mental strength of his new players when he first arrived at Molineux.

Wanderers have enjoyed a good first six months under Lopetegui.

The club lost their latest game to Leicester City at the weekend which was disappointing.

But Lopetegui has taken the club from bottom of the league to 14th position. And at the moment, there is a six-point safety cushion.

He has got some great results.

But he has also implemented a lot of changes behind the scenes and really changed the culture for the better.

Sky Sports reporter Johnny Phillips, who supports Wolves and is well-connected at the club, has produced an interesting article in the Express & Star about life at Compton Park now.

And he touched on something that Lopetegui wanted to fix right away at the club.

He said: “Performance psychologist Martin Littlewood is another whose presence is being felt at Compton Park. On his arrival last November, Lopetegui quickly concluded that the players did not always show the mental strength needed for the demands of a Premier League survival fight.

“Littlewood – a former Liverpool John Moores University lecturer– has 20 years’ experience in the game and plays a key role in Lopetegui’s set-up.”

You can tell Wolves have a greater collective mental strength under Julen Lopetegui

There is no doubt about it – Wolves have a much greater mental strength collectively under Lopetegui.

The squad was in disarray towards the end of Lage’s tenure.

There was no confidence in him, and often in games it felt as though there was no belief to get back into games from losing positions.

This now feels like a thing of the past.

There is still work to be done. But Wolves have certainly been more competitive and more confident since the Spaniard’s arrival.