Gary O'Neil has described the performance of his Wolverhampton Wanderers side against Chelsea as "incredible" after they posted a 2-1 victory at Molineux.
Coming off the back of a dismal 3-0 defeat at West Ham United last weekend, O'Neil needed a response from his squad in order to strengthen their bid for a top-half place in the Premier League table.
Although they were second best and rode their luck during the first half, Wolves were able to prevail courtesy of goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty.
The victory was posted despite a virus lingering in the camp from last week and Pedro Neto still being unavailable despite recently returning to training after a hamstring injury.
Furthermore, Craig Dawson - who was also still feeling the effects of a virus - was forced off in the second half due to a deep cut to his knee, one that required several stitches.
While Wolves conceded a late goal, O'Neil heaped praise on the effort of his team after they extended their unbeaten record at Molineux to seven matches.
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As quoted by the club's official website, the Englishman said: "To get every last bit out of everybody available, and for them to dig in and be together, and not scrap a win but to be comfortable for most of it, is huge credit to the group. I'll enjoy Christmas Day tomorrow after that.
"I thought it was a tough day for us today, we lost 3-0 at West Ham and nobody was happy. I had a call early this morning from the doctor. Jean(-Ricner) Bellegarde not feeling well, Craig Dawson not being 100 per cent from his virus. We had to call up young lads to make sure they were available this morning.
He added: "We were a little bit sloppy with the ball first half and gave Chelsea some joy, sloppy turnovers, and we managed to be a bit better with that second half. I thought we deserved to win, I thought we were fairly comfortable apart from the last five minutes when we gave them a really soft goal. Another big home performance and they can enjoy their Christmas now.
"It's part of the process that we're in. Incredible win with what we had available to us – injuries and three young lads on the bench against a team and squad the size of Chelsea, with what they had available to throw on late on. For the lads managed to dig in, fight and find a way to beat a talented Chelsea group is an incredible effort."
Wolves now sit in 11th position in the Premier League standings, only adrift of Chelsea on goal difference as they each look to close the gap to the top eight.
O'Neil's side are back in action when they make the trip to face Brentford on December 27.
Darren Plant
