Lee Naylor dished out big praise for one Wolves player he felt did ‘brilliantly’ in the 2-1 win over Luton Town on Saturday.
Wanderers got back to winning ways at the weekend, edging out the Hatters at Molineux to move up to 46 points.
Wolves have moved up to 11th with the win, going above Brighton. There is still an outside chance of European football, although Chelsea have to be considered favourites for the final spot with their two games in hand on the others.
It was Hwang Hee-chan who got the ball rolling for Wolves on Saturday. He was found by Matheus Cunha, chopping inside and finishing into the far corner. There was a bit of a deflection, but Hwang will certainly take it after seeing his header controversially chalked off against Bournemouth days earlier.
Toti Gomes added a second in the second-half, with Luton scoring late on through Carlton Morris.
After the game, Lee Naylor showered praise on Hwang for the job he did leading the line…
Lee Naylor says Hwang Hee-chan ‘led the line brilliantly’ for Wolves against Luton
Wolves fans were able to feast their eyes on Hwang and Cunha both starting in attack for the first time in what felt like forever.
The pair have both recently come back from hamstring injuries, and they both made a real difference for Wanderers at the weekend.
They may not both be fully match sharp just yet, but the pair were lively throughout, with Ian Wright describing them as ‘a massive handful’ on Match of the Day.
Hwang played centrally, with Cunha peeling out to the left, and it was a tactic that worked out.
Naylor was left impressed by Hwang playing through the middle, as he said on (via Wolves official): “I’ve always believed that if you work hard, you get your rewards. I thought he worked hard and made some unbelievable runs down the line.
“He was trying to get in, he was battling, and it wasn’t easy against their defence. He was up there on his own against three defenders, even though one tried to man-mark him. Essentially, it was him up there on his own and I thought he led the line brilliantly with his runs. He’s still not the same as what he was before, but if you work hard up there, you get your rewards.”
Hwang looking sharper, he’s been missed
It was good to see Hwang looking a bit sharper on Saturday against Luton and he put in an admirable display playing as a striker.
The £70,000-a-week ace has played a lot from the left during his time at Wolves, but we know that he can do a job through the middle. Arguably, he is the most clinical finisher in the squad. Of the top-scoring players in the Premier League on BBC Sport, Hwang (34%) has the third-highest conversion rate after Alex Isak (36%) and Chris Wood (40%).
He got a bit of luck with his finish but he made his own luck in that moment, and deserved a goal after the farce of a decision against Bournemouth.
Hwang has undoubtedly been missed. He can sometimes have games where he is completely ineffective, but you cannot argue with the numbers he’s put up this term. Wolves are a great threat when he plays and hopefully, he can have a big impact in these last three games.