Boss Bruno Lage urges Wolves to play with ‘no fear’ ahead of Watford’s visit

Bruno Lage is still irritated by the manner of Wolves’ 2-0 home defeat against Crystal Palace as he insisted his side “cannot be afraid to play” ahead of the visit of Watford.

Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring for Palace on Saturday while Wilfried Zaha added a penalty before half-time as Wolves crashed to a third successive loss since reaching the 40-point barrier in the Premier League.

Lage believes Wolves were much improved after the interval at Molineux but he remains disappointed at their first-half performance levels and demanded a response against the Hornets on Thursday evening.

“It’s not about the defeat, it’s about the way we play our game,” the Portuguese said. “We need to find our style to play which works for our players.

“We didn’t play the first 45 minutes, we tried long balls against Crystal Palace, in three or four touches we lose the ball.

“We didn’t dominate with the ball or without the ball, we gave them 45 minutes without being aggressive.

“In the second half we created at least six good chances to score a goal and change the game, we were more aggressive.

“We cannot be afraid to play. I don’t want anyone comfortable with 40 points. But I want us to have confidence to continue to play our game with the ball with no fear.”

Watford are currently 19th in the standings and six weeks ago appointed Roy Hodgson to lead their bid for safety, with the former England boss taking five points from his first seven games at the helm, including three clean sheets.

Hodgson will be given a warm welcome in the midlands by Lage, who will nevertheless attempt to add to Watford’s troubles.

“Not Roy, Sir Roy!” Lage said. “What a pleasure I will have to meet him. For sure it will be a big pleasure to meet Sir Roy but