Gary O’Neil reveals Wolves are focused on short-term goals this season

Victory at Brighton on Monday would move Wolves level on points with the Seagulls as they close in on O’Neil’s goal of keeping them in the Premier League.

Brighton’s long-term planning has been praised, with the south coast club in Europe for the first time having been promoted in 2017.

Wolves had no such time this season and needed a quick fix after ex-boss Julen Lopetegui left on the eve of the campaign with O’Neil’s only remit being survival.

“It’s important you do have a real focus on the short term because, if you mess that up, the long term ends up being down to someone else because the manager is normally long gone,” he said.

“There’s loads of good work going on with the academy, the Under-21s are playing a similar style, so when people move up there’s a real understanding of what we’re trying to do.

“There’s a good healthy connection with everyone in trying to move the place forward and we treat the club how it deserves to be treated.

“This isn’t about me or the players, this is about the club and making sure we get it to a better spot. The short-term results give you the opportunity to build that stuff.”

O’Neil joined in August after Lopetegui’s exit, meaning discussions about the club were centred on the campaign ahead, but the boss will look at the long-term in the summer.

“It was four days before the league started, there was a huge focus on this year,” he said.

“In the summer it will be a good opportunity to sit down and take stock of how we’ve done and how we think we can improve things.

“The main driver will always be the financial situation and what we can do in the markets but there won’t be any in-depth discussion about the next three or four years. It’s about making sure what we can do this year and reassess in the summer.”

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