With five points separating the current 17th placed side and the relegation zone, the Portuguese stopper is confident the squad has plenty of quality to make it a comfortable final few months, despite facing Everton – the team sat above Wolves in the table – without the suspended Matheus Cunha.
On confidence in the camp
“It’s very good. We are working to do our best in the next game against Everton and we will go inside the pitch to win and do our best.
“It’s always good when you win, and in our case, we need wins. In this moment, we can breathe a little better, but of course, we are not done.
“It will be a very difficult run until the end of the season, but with five points [clear of the relegation zone], we can breathe, but we know that we can put a step out of the way.”
On a crucial run of fixtures coming up
“The start of the season was not the best. Of course, we played against difficult teams in the beginning. It’s not an excuse, but in this league, when you start being at the bottom then it’s very difficult to overcome it.
“It can be one of the reasons, but I think as a team, we have to do more and show more, because we have quality. We have players with quality.
“These games can define where we finish and if we finish with a battle against relegation – but it depends on the other results too. We don’t want to continue in the relegation battle until the end of the season, but I think the next seven games will be very important for us.”
On facing a spell without Cunha
“Of course, he’s an important player for us and he’s doing amazing season – everyone knows. I would rate him very high because what he is doing is impressive.
“He is helping us and is doing a very good season but we have here other players that can help us too, and we have to focus on this, play as a team and bring the best of everyone.”
On playing out from the back
“Now it is more normal and I think in the future it will be even more normal for a goalkeeper to play from the back. We have to work and improve, and talking for myself, I need to improve, because we can always do better in everything. We just need to work and do our best.
“Mentally, you need to be very strong because if one player misses a pass or an interception, they always have the goalkeeper.
“But if the goalkeeper misses a pass, then it would be the end of the world! You have to be strong mentally, and if you make a mistake, you have to forget and start thinking in the next action. You have to be strong.”
On new eight-second goalkeeper rule
“It’s strange because you can have the ball in your hand and then it’s a corner. I think it should be an indirect free kick – I think that makes more sense.
“But that is what they want and you just need to follow the rules. It’s not difficult to just not keep the ball so many seconds into your hand. It’s okay.”
