Winless Wolves could face more pain – Edwards

Head coach Rob Edwards says there could be “more pain to come” at winless Wolves.

The strugglers are bottom of the Premier League with just two points and no wins from their opening 15 games.

Edwards, 42, has lost all four of his matches since joining from Middlesbrough last month, including Monday’s 4-1 defeat by Manchester United at Molineux.

That came as fans protested against owners Fosun and their running of the club by boycotting the opening 15 minutes.

Wolves go to leaders Arsenal on Saturday (20:00 GMT) two games away from equalling Sheffield United’s Premier League winless start record of 17, set in 2020-21.

Edwards said: “We can see it’s still going to be difficult going forward for a period of time, so there might be more pain to come. But I’m energised by that – and I’m looking forward to moving forward and trying to improve things.

“I feel like there’s a lot of good work that’s gone in and it feels like we’ve got a really good understanding of the group and the lads, so that’s really positive as well.

To add to Edwards’ problems, midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde may now not return until February after suffering a hamstring injury against United.

The Haiti international has played in 14 of Wolves’ 15 league games and scored on Monday – their first league goal since 26 October.

“It was a hamstring – he could be up to six or more weeks which is a real blow for us,” added the head coach.

Wolves’ eight-game losing run has equalled a club record set in 1981-82. They are 13 points from safety and have not won a game in the Premier League since April.

“I’ve been able to show people in a meeting what is acceptable and what’s not. If we don’t do certain things, it [relegation] will be done quite quickly,” Edwards said.

“I can’t put my boots on and go and do it. We can show, train it and demand the high standards but it has to come from them.”

Despite the difficult start, Edwards has received backing from executive chairman Jeff Shi in an interview with BBC WM.

Shi said he is “95%” sure Edwards, who made 111 appearances for Wolves as a player, will be at the club for the next two-to-three years.

Edwards added: “Coming in, we knew it was going to be really difficult. I don’t think I ever said it wasn’t going to be. The exciting thing was I was going to bring really good people in.