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Matt Doherty confident Wolves are improving amid marathon season

Matt Doherty confident Wolves are improving amid marathon season

By Press Association

Matt Doherty believes Wolves have already proved their staying power during their marathon season.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side play their 21st game of the season when they travel to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup tomorrow.

Wolves started their campaign in the Europa League qualifiers in July.

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They are unbeaten in their last eight outings in all competitions and victory at Villa Park would send them into the Carabao Cup quarter finals.

“We’ve played 20 games this season and only lost three times, so we’re obviously hard to beat,” Doherty told the club’s official site.

“If we can put the ball in the back of the net more, we’ll win a lot of games and we need to do it.

“The more games you play, the more you stay unbeaten fills you with confidence. We’ve got Aston Villa then we go to Arsenal, so the games come thick and fast and we’re prepared.

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“We’re improving all the time. Where we are in the league isn’t exactly where we want to be, but that can change quick, and we’re not in a bad position considering the amount of games we’ve played.”

Wolves drew 1-1 at Newcastle on Sunday but are now without defender Willy Boly after he suffered a broken ankle in training before the trip to St James’ Park.

Fellow defender Ryan Bennett remains a doubt with a groin injury but forward Petro Neto has returned from a heel problem.

Despite the injury issues in defence, Doherty believes there is no travel sickness in the squad after their 2-1 Europa League win at Slovan Bratislava last week.

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The Republic of Ireland international said: “We had to make sure we recover well and are ready for every game. We’re pretty fit, so European games aren’t causing us an issue.

“Credit goes to the backroom staff for the shape they have us in. They make us recover well and we’re prepared for every game.

“We played on Thursday and it was a two-hour flight so we’re not going to be using that as an excuse, we’ve just got to be more clinical.”

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