Matt Doherty says Wolves players need to be 'more ruthless' with each other to avoid drop
Wolves' Matt Doherty celebrates scoring his side's equaliser against West Ham. Picture: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire.
Matt Doherty said there will be "honest chats" among the Wolves squad following their 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Monday night.
The Ireland international scored an equaliser for Wolves in the 69th minute, cancelling out Thomas Soucek's opening goal, but Jarrod Bowen put the Hammers back in front just three minutes after Doherty's strike.
Wolves are second from bottom of the Premier League, four points adrift of safety.
“Maybe we can be a bit more ruthless with each other and demand a bit more from each other," Doherty told the Wolves club website.
"There are no separations in the group. There are no cliques going on. Everyone gets on. We train well together. We're all in this, going in the same direction. We're all trying to get Wolves out of the spot we’re in. We keep believing, we always will. We still believe we'll be able to do it.
“For whatever reason, it's just not resulting in results. We're disappointed for ourselves. We're disappointed for fans, obviously, but we're disappointed for him [Gary O’Neil]."
An unmarked Soucek opened scoring in the 54th minute with a header from a corner. It was the 15th goal Wolves have conceded from a set piece this season, the most in the league.
“I think the 11 on the pitch at the time have to knuckle down, maybe, and we have to take more responsibility," said Doherty.
"Just say, ‘This is my guy, and he's not getting away’. I think we're going to have some honest chats during the week, before the Ipswich game to try and figure it out. It’s something we're obviously very concerned about, and something that we're desperately trying to fix.
“I think all of us will figure out the best way. It's a huge part of the game that we're getting very wrong at the moment, and it's costing us. It’s something that's a huge concern right now.”
Doherty added that the team should "use our heads a bit more" when it comes to situations like conceding so quickly after scoring.
"When we get to 1-1, instead of being solid and maybe thinking about just keeping the game in front of us for five, ten minutes, we're probably thinking about going to win it straight away, instead of waiting and just trying to snatch something at the end.
“A lot of the time you are quite vulnerable immediately after you score. For us to concede that fast, that type of goal, we know Bowen cuts in from the left. We're making some bad mistakes.”
Wolves face Ipswich next on Saturday afternoon.
“This is the Premier League, you're not due a single point in this league," said Doherty.
"You don't want to be getting cut adrift. History tells you that if you're in a certain position by a certain time, that the likelihood is you don't really stay up. We’ll go into Saturday knowing how big it is.”
