Wolves recorded a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest in their third Premier League game of the season.
After Wolves were beaten heavily 6-2 by Chelsea, it was important for Wanderers to try and bounce back and at the very least, get a point against Forest.
In the end, Wolves did take a point at the City ground, coming from behind.
Chris Wood, so often a thorn in Wolves’ side, gave the hosts the lead after just 10 minutes. But there was a pretty rapid response from Wolves through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
The Frenchman struck from the edge of the box after a turnover by Mario Lemina, finding the top corner for his first of the season.
It was probably a fair result in the end, and one positive to take was the performance of debutant Sam Johnstone.
Nelson Semedo praises Sam Johnstone after he made his Wolves debut against Nottingham Forest
Nelson Semedo was making his first appearance of the season against Forest.
He had picked up a red card against Liverpool in the final game of last season and had to serve a three-game ban.
Matt Doherty did well in the first two games, but Gary O’Neil was keen to get the Portugal international back into his starting XI at the first opportunity.
One man who was also making his first appearance of the new season was Sam Johnstone, signed on transfer deadline day from Crystal Palace.
Johnstone has been brought in to compete with Jose Sa, although many are now expecting Sa to leave for Saudi Arabia. He was not involved yesterday, with O’Neil saying that he had had ‘a bit going on’ during an unsettling week.
Johnstone went straight into the starting XI against Forest and gave an assured debut, and Nelson Semedo praised his new teammate after the game, even suggesting Johnstone played like he has been at Wolves for a lot longer.
He said (via Wolves official): “I think he did well. He’s been with us for a couple of days but looks like he played with us for a while already.
“He made a very good save on Morgan’s free-kick so he’s one more player who can help.”
A good start for Johnstone
Johnstone deserves credit for his performance yesterday against Forest.
To have come in and had one training session before going straight into the starting XI cannot have been too ideal.
Johnstone has had not time to get familiar with how the team plays, so to play as well as he did yesterday is encouraging.
The Johnstone deal is a really intriguing one. Some have suggested that he isn’t much of an upgrade on Sa and have questioned the club spending £10 million on him.
But we will see how he gets on. Clearly, O’Neil was very keen to bring him in and hopefully he can prove his worth very quickly.