Wolverhampton Wanderers

We asked for your thoughts after Friday's Premier League game between West Ham and Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

West Ham fans

Joe: Massive win and a clean sheet to go with it. Struggled in the first half but fought for that opener and got the team back into it. Taty and Pablo are a great pair up front, Bowen is clinical with his passing and Mavro is being a beast in the box. Happy Hammers tonight, bring on the next one.

Dave: At long last a good result. We were second best in the first half but improved in the second half. Wolves have improved too, and looked like they were going to score but luckily they didn't. We need to start having two good halves and we may stay up and send Spurs down.

Sue: What a great result and another clean sheet. First half a bit slow but a brilliant second half. If we keep going like this we will beat the drop. Watch out Arsenal haha.

Wolves fans

Guy: Whilst we are obviously going to be relegated this year, it would have been great to see the team actually trying to compete with West Ham to win the three points on offer. There is surely the small matter of not finishing bottom of the league to play for? After such a dismal season, that should be sufficient motivation for the team. All we ask for is effort and after such a long wait between games it was very disappointing to see none.

Simon: Pitiful - the long suffering supporters who made the trip down to London should be reimbursed for that pathetic and embarrassing performance. A disgrace after a 25-day rest!!

Dan: Once the second goal went in we absolutely fell apart. This was a game we had to win to maintain any slim hope of survival and we got battered. A pretty depressing return from several weeks without a game.

Ian: The international break has worked against us. Lots of poor individual mistakes that weren't happening as much before. We handed them the game on a plate.

Keifer MacDonald
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

While those above them continue to battle it out for survival, it looks almost certain that Wolves' race is run.

Fifteen points from safety with just 18 points left to play for, their relegation could be confirmed as early as next Saturday if results go against them.

They have been made to pay for a dreadful first half of the season, failing to win any of their opening 19 games and picking up just three points in the process.

Defender Ladislav Krejci apologised to fans after their defeat at London Stadium - "not just for this game but the situation in the table".

But manager Rob Edwards would not be drawn on whether it was a result that killed any remaining hope.

"For us it is the same message," Edwards told Sky Sports. "We have to try to finish strong, respect every game and go for it.

"We are all under the microscope and we have to make sure we perform."

Read more analysis of the relegation battle here

Rob Edwards spoke to Sky Sports after Wolves' defeat against West Ham: "Yes it did come as a surprise. We're bitterly disappointed. I thought the performance in the first half was good and we started really well. Goign 1-0 down can happen, we talked about making sure we finish attacks better. Then two quick fire goals, they latched onto our mistakes and then the game is done. You give them credit but it is poor from us. So what started looking like it could be a positive night ended up being really difficult.

"It doesn't matter who makes the mistakes, we make them as a team. A couple of our best players have been robbed of the ball, it can happen, there is still a lot to do. It's a collective and they took advantage of those tonight.

"For us it is the same message. We have to try to finish strong, respect every game and go for it. We are all under the microscope and we have to make sure we perform. Tonight is strange because we did, and then we got punished in the second half. We've got to make sure that we respond now at Elland Road.

"I don't think it's helped 25 days not playing, but it's not an excuse. I won't make any excuses. In the end we got punished for our mistakes and West Ham won the game deservedly. Tonight we've got to lick our wounds, take the medicine, take the criticism, then come back and respond well."

Wolves defender Ladislav Krejci also spoke to Sky Sports: "From the beginning I felt we were the better team. We had more space, we were better on the ball. From some moment in the first half we stopped moving and finding the right solution. We let them score and the second half from our mistakes we gave them the chances. It's unacceptable how many goals we conceded. From our side we apologise to the fans - not just for this game but this situation doesn't help us in the table. We could've got closer but we did not.

"The situation that we created, we gave them the chance to score - that's from our side. I don't want to point fingers because everybody was there. We cannot do it at this level."

Does this make survival impossible? "I don't know - my full focus and others in the club was that this game was the one which changed the whole thing. It didn't happen so let's meet next week again and try to find a solution if it's there."

Did you know?

Yerson Mosquera picked up his 12th yellow card in just 28 Premier League appearances – among players with at least 20 games in the history of the competition, only Jamie Fullarton (11 in 25 games, 0.44) has a higher yellows per game ratio than Mosquera (0.43).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on West Ham's performance

What did you make of Wolves' display?

Come back on Saturday for a selection of your replies

West Ham's hopes of Premier League survival are boosted by the return of Crysencio Summerville, who missed last weekend's FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Leeds United through injury.

The 24-year-old is one of six changes for the Hammers, with Mads Hermansen, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Tomas Soucek, Pablo and Valentin Castellanos also coming into the starting XI.

Callum Wilson and Jean-Clair Tdibo are both also fit enough to be named on the bench after a spell on the sidelines.

West Ham XI: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Disasi, Mavropanos, Diouf; Summerville, Soucek, Fernandes, Bowen; Pablo,Castellanos

Subs: Areola, Wilson, Adama, Todibo, Magassa, Wan-Bissaka, Scarles, Potts, Kante

Wolves, meanwhile, are without defender Matt Doherty as they line up for a first Premier League game in 25 days.

Manager Rob Edwards makes one change from the side that managed a 2-2 draw with Brentford on March 16, with Angel Gomes starting in place of Mateus Mane.

Wolves XI: Sa, Mosquera, Bueno, Krejci; Tchatchoua, Andre, J.Gomes, Bueno; Bellegarde, A.Gomes; Armstrong

Subs: Bentley, Wolfe, Hwang, Arokodare, Lima, R.Gomes, Toti, Mane, Edozie

Relegation rivals West Ham and Wolves meet for the third time this season.

Returning from hammer blow

West Ham need to bounce straight back after their FA Cup heartache last weekend, and what better way to do it than getting a win which would move them out of the relegation zone – even if it might only be for less than 48 hours.

The good news for the Hammers is that they are facing the bottom side, whose miserable season has meant they were seen as relegation certs well before Christmas.

But the bad news is that Wolves have beaten them twice already in 2025-26, and are enjoying something of a late-season renaissance, losing only four of their past 13 matches.

West Ham will take heart from the manner of their FA Cup fightback against Leeds on Sunday, when they scored twice in stoppage time. Scoring late goals was a feature of their cup run – four of their seven goals came after the 90th minute.

However, that's something of a contrast to their league form, where they have dropped more points than any other side in the final 15 minutes of matches.

Letting in goals has been a big problem for West Ham, whose tally of 57 goals conceded exceeds that of their opponents on Friday and is the second-worst in the top flight.

The Hammers have also conceded a joint-division-high 22 goals from set-pieces – although Wolves have only scored nine goals from set-pieces, the joint-lowest total in the Premier League.

Wolves in revival mode

Wolves kicked off 2026 with a 3-0 victory over West Ham – a repeat of that scoreline would see them move off the foot of the table for the first time since August.

It may prove to be a brief stay but moving off the bottom of the top flight is something that looked unlikely even six weeks ago when they suffered their 20th league defeat of the season, and were nine points adrift and still in danger of eclipsing Derby's record for the fewest points in a Premier League campaign.

Two wins and a draw since then have restored some pride to the Old Gold, and they will hope that the 25-day break since their last match has not stopped their momentum.

Avoiding relegation might be a step too far – Opta's Supercomputer, external gives them a 99.93% chance of going down – but they look determined to do it fighting every step of the way.

And with none of their remaining seven fixtures against top eight clubs – and four of them against teams in the bottom six – they could have a big say in who might join them should they end up in the Championship next season.

It's so hard to know what to expect this weekend, because so many teams have not played for a few weeks, and they will have lost any momentum.

Wolves know they are down but they have definitely improved under Rob Edwards, who has had some decent results after a difficult start. They are one of the teams who have been on a good run, but their last match was on 16 March.

Seeing West Ham's FA Cup tie with Leeds go to extra-time last weekend was the worst-case scenario for them, with a massive game like this on the horizon.

They obviously lost on penalties in the end, and their league form has not been great either, with only one win in their past six games.

That's why they are still in the bottom three at the moment but I think they will be out of the relegation zone on Friday night.

Wolves have beaten West Ham twice already this season, at Molineux in the league and the Carabao Cup, but this time I am going for a Hammers win.

All the pressure is on them here, but they are at home and Jarrod Bowen will probably be the player who makes the difference.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

The Premier League's return this weekend brings trepidation for some and excitement for others.

Football's emotional rollercoaster becomes intense at this time of year, unless of course mid-table mediocrity has taken a grip of things in recent months.

So how are you feeling as a Wolves fan with just a handful of weeks left to go?

The league form reads: DDLWWD

The next three league fixtures are: West Ham (a), Leeds (a), Spurs (h)

Let us know how you're feeling here

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Wolves boss Rob Edwards has been speaking to the media before Friday's Premier League game against West Ham United at London Stadium (kick-off 20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• In terms of injury news, Sam Johnstone is suffering with a "shoulder issue" and Matt Doherty has picked up a "niggle", so neither will feature on Friday night.

• The goalkeeper's injury may hamper his chances of featuring in the final seven games of this season, although Edwards hopes to obtain "more detail" soon.

• The "ultra-long" 25-day international break has been "good but strange". He explained: "I can't remember ever having this amount of time between fixtures, apart from during Covid, so it has been new and different for me."

• It has been an opportunity to "review some stuff, take some time off, do some good training and look forward" though.

• He added: "West Ham have had a couple of competitive games since we last played, so maybe that will help them. Hopefully the break has been good for us. It will be interesting to see how we turn up."

• When asked how Wolves will approach the fixture, he replied: "It is a really big game for both teams. We want to try to take things as far as we can, keep improving, keep the momentum going, and go into it wanting to win."

• Edwards feels the 3-0 victory over West Ham United earlier this season "certainly helped morale and built belief", but there had been "a lot of good performances" prior to picking up that result.

• He feels Nuno Espirito Santo is a "brilliant manager", who rightly has "legendary status" following his time at Wolves.

• On being able to move off the bottom of the table with a win, he said: "We want to try to take as much positive momentum into next season, so clearly we want finish as high as possible. To do that we need to get points, but we haven't thought about what it might do to the table. It would be silly to do so."

• He hasn't "thought too much" about what would make a good end to the season: "I suppose I want to try to keep the feeling we've got around the club right now. If we feel good about the football club and the work we have done, that's some success to take into next season."

• Lastly, when asked about defensive midfielder Andre, he replied: "I love him to bits. He is brilliant, as a person and as a player. He is a wonderful guy. When he plays well, we play well."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Got a question about Wolves? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts

Phil Cartwright
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

While the most optimistic fans still dream of what would surely be the greatest of great escapes, the likelihood is that Wolves will be playing in the Championship next season.

Rob Edwards' side have taken seven points from their past three Premier League games and ending a disappointing season on a positive note will be high on the club's list of achievable goals.

Chasing down and overhauling 19th-placed Burnley, who are three points ahead of them, will be another. The two clubs are scheduled to meet at Turf Moor on the final day of the season.

Another target will be getting past 25 points, Wolves' tally from the 2011-12 relegation season, which remains the club's lowest in a top-flight season during the Premier League era.

And they remain without an away league win this season, an unwanted statistic that Dave Jones' side posted when Wolves went down in 2003-04.

As far as their remaining fixtures go, Wolves could not have asked for a much kinder run-in - they do not face any of the current top eight in their final seven matches, a sequence which starts at third-from-bottom West Ham on Friday.

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Readers with long memories will recall the days when Wolves used to play football matches.

Their elongated 25-day gap between games was the result of an unfortunate combination of circumstances and was unwelcome. Football seasons have a natural rhythm and before this break, for the first time, Wolves had at last seemed to be moving with the beat.

Seven points from the past three league games did more than just ensure they would overtake Derby's 11-point record, of which they had been reminded all winter.

They were not always fluent or attractive in those games, but had at last begun to appear regularly competitive even against strong sides.

The possibility of somehow tunnelling out of the bottom three has remained just within sight for those willing to believe in it.

While the club and their fans have been coming to terms with what relegation means for some time now, there is no harm in talking up that faint chance. You have got to have a dream.

It should also ensure that the players, who kept trying even when prospects were at their most bleak, push hard to the end. Their supporters deserve that, at the very least.

Clearly, some will also have personal motivations. Several Wolves players are World Cup probables for their countries. Some will want to leave. Some will probably have to, and the sooner in the window the better to give Wolves time and leverage to regenerate their squad.

Of those, some will be missed more than others, as Dazzling Dave's paean to Joao Gomes on this page on Tuesday explained.

Wolves' last laps in the Premier League for now need not be a bitter experience. The atmosphere around Molineux on matchdays recently has been brighter.

If that can be maintained when Wolves finally play there again after an absurd seven-week gap between home games, while it is a lot to ask of supporters who have been given thin rations in recent years, it will be valuable.

By then, for all their wriggling on the hook, it may be that the last hope of Premier League salvation will have disappeared. That will still feel sad if it happens, but there can yet be honour in relegation.

While the squad that finishes this season may look very different by the start of the next - and maybe different again by 1 September - Wolves can still carry more momentum into the Championship than those just above them who fall into the trap late. They must.

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Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, Wolves FC via Getty Images

If Joao Gomes leaves Wolves this summer, he will go with the thanks of supporters who know exactly what they are losing.

In a season that has too often lacked control, composure and fight, Gomes has been one of the few constants.

Since arriving from Flamengo in January 2023, he has brought urgency, aggression and heart to Wolves' midfield. He did not need long to settle. He looked like a Wolves player almost from the start.

The numbers show just how much he has carried.

Premier League statistics show Gomes is joint-third for the number of duels won this season (184). Opta have him fourth for total tackles in the Premier League with 85. Of the leading 10 players in that metric, Gomes has the third-best percentage for tackles won (64.7%).

Those figures underline how much defensive work he gets through, often in a side that has left him with far too much to do.

Of course, Gomes plays on the edge. He is second for fouls committed this season. But that is part of the package. He is not a player who hides. He gets stuck in, takes responsibility and tries to shift momentum when Wolves need a spark.

That is why his absence would be felt on so many fronts.

Wolves would miss his ball-winning ability, his energy and his drive. They would miss the way he covers ground, breaks up attacks and drags the midfield into the fight. Just as importantly, they would miss his attitude. Even in difficult spells, Gomes has never looked like a player going through the motions, he always gives 100%.

There is also an emotional side to this. Supporters took to him because he played with total commitment and because he seemed to understand what effort in a Wolves shirt should look like. Taking on the number eight shirt after Ruben Neves was no small thing, but Gomes has worn it with pride.

If he goes, Wolves will not just lose a very good midfielder. They will lose spirit, steel and a player who has truly set the standard this season.

Find more from Dazzling Dave at Always Wolves, external

Celta Vigo want 21-year-old midfielder Fer Lopez to remain at the club beyond his loan from Wolves, which expires at the end of this season. (Faro de Vigo via SportWitness), external

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None of the headline figures emerging from the latest Wolves accounts, released this week, feel very comforting even if the reported loss of £15.3m was not much different from the previous period.

Confirmation that Wolves do not appear to be close to the regulatory limits of losses, beyond which there may be punishments, is tempered by the thought that the punishment was effectively served in advance by selling several of their best players.

This accounting period was extended to 13 months, a one-off move to bring Wolves in line with other clubs and player contracts, and therefore includes two Junes, months in which wages still have to be paid but income is not generated. Wolves report that allowing for that, to provide a more accurate comparison with previous years, they roughly broke even for 2024-25. The extended period, though, means these accounts include the sales of not only Maximilian Kilman and Pedro Neto in the summer of 2024, but Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri last year.

The problem with selling the best players – all right, the other problem with selling the best players, apart from the obvious one – is that you can only sell each of them once. Upward pressure on the wage bill and wage-to-revenue ratio has been eased by some mid-season departures, as well as free-transfer exits of big earners like Pablo Sarabia and Nelson Semedo last summer. But Wolves did spend quite a lot last summer too, in the new accounting period, and when that statement lands on the doormat this time next year it may not make pleasant reading either.

By then, the course for Wolves' immediate future will have been set. Some running costs may decrease in the Championship, but revenues will of course be much lower, and the new chairman Nathan Shi has already committed to reducing the cost of season tickets next season. That will be a relatively small price to pay to keep as many fans onside as possible. Ultimately, the only way to really win them back over will be to deliver a promotion back to the Premier League, which will surely require a significant reinvestment of any player sales this year back into the squad.

Fosun, through Shi, have restated their intention to restore Wolves back to the Premier League and continue to future success. These accounts do not foretell the future, but after reading them it is hard to imagine getting there without significant new financial support from the owners. The goal of self-sustainability may itself be unsustainable after relegation.

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Manchester United are among the clubs interested in Joao Gomes and the midfielder could be available for about £39m if Wolves get relegated. (Caught Offside), external

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Emma Milton
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

When Rob Edwards took over at Wolves, he was walking into a mess.

This was not a settled squad that simply needed a fresh voice. It was a group low on confidence, short on balance and carrying the scars of too many poor performances.

The football had gone flat, belief had drained away and the league table reflected that. In that context, the question is not whether Edwards has performed miracles, but whether he has restored enough trust to be the man to lead the rebuild if Wolves are relegated.

On that front, the answer may well be yes.

Since his arrival, Wolves have at least started to look like a team again. Wins against sides such as Liverpool and Aston Villa, plus a draw with Arsenal, suggest there has been genuine improvement.

More important than the points alone is the change in spirit. Wolves have shown more intensity, more organisation and more willingness to compete. That should not be dismissed, because those things were badly missing before he came in.

Edwards also appears to understand the bigger picture. Reports of his early involvement in recruitment-planning matter. If Wolves are heading for the Championship, they need a manager already thinking beyond the current crisis. That kind of forward-planning is a good sign.

The concern, of course, is Luton. Edwards has already lived through relegation and then a failed rebuild. He has spoken before about lessons from that period, especially around loyalty and recruitment. Luton did not refresh enough and they paid for it badly. If Wolves keep him, the hope must be that he has learned from that experience and is now more ready to make ruthless decisions.

That is the key issue - not whether Edwards is a good coach, but whether he can rebuild decisively.

The squad he inherited was broken in key areas. The one he may take into next season still looks in need of major surgery. Some players will leave. Some should. The Wolves manager must build a squad fit to win the Championship and a nucleus strong enough to compete on return to the Premier League.

Right now, Edwards looks like he has done enough to be given that chance. He has not fixed everything but he has restored some order, some fight and some direction.

In a season full of damage, that may be the clearest sign yet that he is still the right man to take Wolves forward.

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Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

Image source, Getty Images

"We are changing the way we do things at Wolves. It must always be football first and around that we are building greater clarity, accountability and longer-term thinking to create a better future" - Nathan Shi, who is still officially interim executive chairman, said in a recent statement.

You, like me, might have grown up thinking that being "football first" ought to be so intrinsic to a football club that there would be no need to actually state it, let alone revert to it, but perhaps we are products of a simpler age.

However, starting from a "football first" standpoint sounds like a good lodestar - and this is no time to be churlish.

Many Wolves fans ran through the stages of grief for their Premier League status quite early. Though the moment will still hurt when it comes - let us also make room for the possibility, however slim, that it won't come - the most intense anger associated with relegation may have already passed.

But there is a moment of opportunity here.

Like every other aspect of Wolves' probable demotion, the fracturing of the relationship between the owners Fosun and the supporters is not a product of this season alone.

Fans revered Fosun's name in the early years after the takeover; now they take it in vain. Much of the anger was directed personally at previous chairman Jeff Shi, and the appointment of Nathan Shi as his replacement in December was greeted with a lot of eye-rolling.

But the relationship is not beyond repair and Fosun continue to insist their interest remains long-term.

Nathan Shi's statement spoke of a "responsibility to them to put the right structures in place at Wolves so we can build something we are proud of again". His lack of previous football experience need not prevent him from succeeding.

Organising the right people into key positions, and taking care to ensure supporters feel invested in and respected by the club, matter more.

Announcing an average 25% cut in season-ticket prices and committing to regular meetings with the club's Fan Advisory Board and wider support forums are a good start.

The Wolves Report podcast's Ryan Leister met Nathan Shi at one of the recent meetings. "What we stated was the things you're saying are great but these things are only going to become real, and you be believed and trusted, when words become actions," said Leister.

Lost hearts and minds can be won back if the fans feel the club is listening and they can see that football is once again first. "If Nathan's saying it then great, but he has to keep showing us," Leister added.

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Rangers could land centre-back Nasser Djiga for just £5m, if they decide to make his loan move from Wolves permanent. (FootballFanCast), external

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Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled that Brentford should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-2 home draw with Wolves on 16 March.

But it was also decided that the VAR was correct not to intervene as there was no clear and obvious error.

The Bees were 2-0 up in the 41st minute when Kevin Schade was held back by Andre.

Referee Stuart Attwell allowed play to continue and there was no monitor review advised by the VAR, Paul Howard.

Wolves came back strongly in the second half to score twice and earn a point at the Gtech.

The KMI Panel said that the holding was "sustained" and voted 4:1 in favour of a penalty.

It was a split 3:2 vote in support of no VAR intervention.