Wolves boss Nuno: The players believed in me

Nuno’s team are Premier League bound after securing promotion to the top flight at the weekend.

Wolves went up with four games to spare and crowned their perfect weekend with a 2-0 win over local rivals Blues on Sunday.

They will now look to secure the Championship title, which they’ll do if they earn a point at Bolton on Saturday.

The players have been given time off until Wednesday to enjoy their promotion celebrations. And Nuno said the way the squad took his ideas on board at the start of the season, when the head coach introduced a 3-4-3 formation, got the ball rolling for what’s been a perfect campaign.

“They believed in something that was changing,” Nuno said.

“When you come and find something and you want to change you say ‘Will this work with my idea, with my vision?’.

“First of all what you have to conquer is the trust of the players – and they trust and believed and kept on doing that. Fantastic.

“It’s the best reward that someone can have working in football, when someone believes in you.”

Nuno has guided Wolves to the top flight in his first season in charge and becomes the seventh non-British or Irish head coach to win promotion from the Championship.

He reiterated that he believes the league is the hardest in world football – and offered a reminder that his team managed to cope in a cold English winter.

“The Championship is the hardest competition in the world, it’s so competitive,” he added.

“Each team comes and tries to fight for the game.

“You find Tuesday, minus 5C, you have to be there to respond. We played good with a yellow ball, no problems.

“It’s the hardest competition because it’s more balanced in all aspects.

“We have rules to do, homegrown situations, financial fair play – it’s balanced.

“The coaches know what they’re doing. In other leagues you see three or four teams fighting for the title and the others trying to survive.

“Here everyone wants to achieve something, promotion and play-offs and it’s tough. Through the season in October, who were the teams fighting with us? Then in January a team comes within two points of us and the other team that’s 14 points away go 21 games (unbeaten) in a row.

“It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. It’s fantastic.”

Attention will now turn a busy summer in which Wolves are likely to spend big.

Nuno said it was too early to talk about the Premier League as his focus is on reaching a maximum of 104 points.

He stated it would ‘ruin everything’ if Wolves didn’t win the league.

“It’s not the moment (to talk about the Premier League) – we’ll ruin everything. Let’s not spoil it.

“Wednesday we’re back in work and we’re going to prepare for the game.

“We have to deal with some things – it’s not the same today that it was one week ago.

“But no relaxing. (I want) everybody working for the next game.”

Nuno’s agent Jorge Mendes has played a crucial role in the club’s success.

The head coach said of his friend: “I think everybody that loves the idea of Wolverhampton deserves credit.

“It’s important to have that belief in you and support for you.”