Bruno Lage sends clear threat to players after Wolves blow European chance

Bruno Lage intends to stick with the Wolverhampton Wanderers players who share his ambition to ‘put the club on a different level’ - and weed out those who don’t.

In a clear warning to his stars after their humiliating 3-0 defeat to Brighton, Lage says he needs to ‘smell’ those who share his desire to bring European football back to Molineux. Wolves have four games remaining against Chelsea, Manchester City, Norwich and Liverpool, and may need up to three victories to secure seventh after losing for a third successive game, this time at home to Brighton.

Lage’s frustration at Wolves’ wretched run of form - seven defeats in 10 games - at the business end of the season reached boiling point after the Brighton loss. The head coach is at a loss to explain why his players ‘didn’t play’ in such an important match for the club.

“This is for me to analyse and understand,” he said. “But we still have a lot of things to conquer and, I don’t know if this is the word, but I need to smell the guys who want to continue to put the club on a different level.

“This is the best thing that could happen to us. To come to this position… we need two victories to get the record in the Premier League for Wolves, we need points to finish seventh or sixth.

“We are going to play some important games for us and, in two weeks, play Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea. If you ask any dressing room, any player, if they want to be in this position and play these games… I need to understand who wants to go to war and put the club on a different level.

“I can lose plenty of times, but today was completely different. We didn’t learn anything from this game because we just watched Brighton play the game.”