PREVIEW: FULHAM V WOLVES

O’Neil confirmed there are a “few [players] to check” following the international break but added: “I’m confident we will be able to name a strong team. I don’t want to give too much away but I’m hopeful that we will be fine.”

On being able to follow Fulham’s footsteps after losing key players in transfer windows: “Wolves is a fantastic club, but we are still trying to stabilise at the moment. After that comes progression – but we are not there yet. We are still trying to stabilise and be in a good spot week to week. Discussions on where we want to progress to will come but focus is on the short term being competitive.”

He praised Fulham’s recruitment strategy and “excellent coach” Marco Silva, adding: “He has had a lot of time there but used it well. They have a good style and understand what they do. Players they recruit fit excellently and they have had a good transition since the Championship. It will be another real test.”

Having started on the bench since coming off at half-time against Manchester City, O’Neil said “it is just one of those moments” for midfielder Andre and that he “still works hard, still shows quality and is still adapting”. He added: “He is going to have a big impact on the team [in the future].”

On whether the Brentford defeat was a turning point in their season: “Interesting season for us so far in the journey, not results. Performances I was so pleased with at the start. We had tough opposition with Liverpool, Newcastle and Aston Villa, but some really good performances. For some reason, at Brentford, we fell way below the level, but a lot of work has been done to figure out what we needed to to do to get points from games.”

He added: “There is still room for improvement and it will be a tough test against Fulham. But we are in a decent moment, as strange as that sounds, with where we are in the league.”

On their increased resilience after a clean sheet against Southampton: “We need to find the right blend. We look like scoring goals. Wolves used to struggle for years in that area, now we always look like scoring. It’s trying to find that right balance and making sure we are solid enough. We don’t want to take away from being an attacking team.”

On switching goalkeepers: “I have been pleased with Jose [Sa] and his response to Sam [Johnstone] coming in and being on the bench for a few weeks… There may be extreme circumstances where I think one is better than the other for a certain game but it is not a position I want to keep flipping. It is too extreme to keep flipping goalkeepers.”