Alan Shearer last night lauded Wolves on Match of the Day for their defending against Aston Villa – and picked out Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson for praise.
Wolves are now clear of danger, having picked up three points with a 1-0 victory yesterday.
They have reached the magical 40 point mark, and are 10 clear of the relegation zone.
It was Toti Gomes’ header that proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Wanderers spent most of the rest of the game defending that lead, although there were a few chances to get a second goal.
Villa threatened, but could not breach Wolves’ backline.
It was a superb defensively display from Wolves, and it came in for praise from Shearer on Match of the Day last night.
The Premier League legend also gave credit to Lemina and Dawson for their efforts.
He said: “They’ve been, particularly at home, hard to beat. They don’t concede many. When you’ve got performances like they gave today, particularly from Lemina and Dawson who worked all over the pitch.
“They gave the protection that they needed, made it very, very difficult for Aston Villa in terms of their positioning, their last ditch tackles, getting in the way of things, reading the game really well.
“Basically stopping Aston Villa at source for a lot of the game. Craig Dawson won the battle and his position was superb as well. You can see it here, reading to game very well, positioning was magnificent. Being a leader at the back.”
The signings of Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson were instrumental in saving Wolves from relegation
Although not yet mathematically safe, there is now no danger of Wolves being relegated and fans probably didn’t expect it to be so comfortable in the end.
Wovles have been able to survive as a result of Lopetegui makin the team more solid and organised.
He has taken a pragmatic approach, which was exactly right given Wolves desperately needed points on the board.
The signings of Dawson and Lemina have proven to be a masterstoke.
At ÂŁ3.3 million, Dawson might well be the biggest bargain signing at Wolves since Joao Moutinho. He has tightened up that backline and transcended confidence to those around him with how solid he is.
And Lemina is just an absolute warrior in midfield. He has provided the bite that has been missing for so long.
Had Wolves not brought in these two players in particular, then Wolves would potentially still be in a world of trouble right now.