Excitement is building as Wolves supporters get ready for Vitor Pereira’s first game in charge – a trip to relegation rivals Leicester City.
Wolves confirmed Pereira as manager on Thursday, and have since been preparing for this huge six-pointer.
The Portuguese boss will have to work miracles to get the Old Gold out of their current mess, although a victory over Leicester would move them to within two points of the Foxes.
There’s not been much time for the 56-year-old to work with his first-team squad but footage did emerge of Pereira working on the training ground as he was seen barking orders at his players.
Pereira will need to get his instructions across quickly as Wolves looked lost under Gary O’Neil, and now he’s explained how he will improve their defensive record.
How Vitor Pereira will fix Wolves abysmal set-piece record
Wolves’ defence under O’Neil essentially cost him his job. The Wanderers conceded a whopping 40 goals in 16 games but perhaps more alarmingly, shipped 16 goals from set-pieces.
Jamie Carragher criticised Wolves defending from dead-balls once O’Neil was sacked, and it’s something Pereira will need to fix for them to stand any chance of surviving.
Luckily, working on not conceding from set pieces is something he’s drilling into the players every day, explaining three things they must do to improve.
“We will work on set pieces every day,” Pereira said via the E&S. “I know a way to improve this is with work, correct it and then try again, then correct and try again.
“We need to find a way to not allow goals to go in like we did in the past. We need to be more aggressive, more proactive and not wait in the zone. We need to be more aggressive in the duels, man-to-man.
“We need to open our body to see the movements, because if we close the pitch with bad body movement, we cannot see the pitch and it means we cannot anticipate the movement.”
Clearly, the new manager has identified their current defensive deficiencies as a problem and he’s looking to fix them straight away, which will encourage the Wolves supporters.
The January transfer window will be pivotal for Wolves
Fosun neglected Wolves in the summer transfer window, and they never sourced a proper replacement for captain Max Kilman.
Matt Hobbs felt he could rely on Yerson Mosquera however, that plan backfired when the youngster suffered a season-ending injury against Aston Villa.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  LeicesterLeicester | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 14 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 12 |
| 19 |  WolvesWolves | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 24 | 40 | -16 | 9 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 16 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 36 | -25 | 5 |
Further, this was Mosquera’s first experience of Premier League football, so expecting him to transform their defence was a pipe dream that has backfired.
Wolves are now looking to sign two defenders in January as they aim to support Craig Dawson, Santi Bueno and Toti Gomes in their efforts.
The Old Gold intend on doing their business early, resulting in links to Atalanta’s Ben Godfrey, who would add some much-needed pace and mobility to their back line.
Indeed, the correct investment in the transfer window is needed for the Wanderers to have a real stab at survival as they can’t rely on their current options.