Nuno has seen reaction he wants from Wolves
"We're ready to compete," Nuno Espirito Santo has declared, as he admitted his surprise at Wolves' poor performance last weekend.
Wolves head to Cardiff tomorrow looking to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town.
Nuno has already decided his XI for the clash, which will see him and Neil Warnock lock horns after their tempestuous spat in April.
And the Warnock factor is a sideshow for Nuno who is calling on his players to show a big improvement.
"(The Huddersfield performance) surprised me, not only me but everybody," Nuno said at today's pre-match press conference.
"We weren't able to play the way we usually do.
"It was a very bad performance individually and collectively as a team, too many mistakes. We'll react how we react."
Fans have called for changes to be made in either personnel or formation after four defeats in five.
Nuno said Wolves are forever looking for tweaks to improve – but their basic principles will remain.
"We're always changing things and trying to find solutions, the best way to defend and attack. But what we don't change is our idea," Nuno said.
"We change players, positions of players, whatever we think is best for the team, but we don't change our idea in terms of preparation, we don't distinguish opponents.
"We've decided already (the team). We've trained well and we're ready to compete.
"It's a reality (the five-game winless run), we're not in a good moment, that's the fact. How we analyse it is bad on the last performance
"There's no point staying in the past. We must perform based on the standards we're used to.
"I've seen a reaction this week, if that wasn't the case we'd be in big trouble. Everyone reacted to a bad day."
Both Nuno and Warnock have already stated this week that they've made up after their row in April, when Warnock repeatedly told Nuno to f*** off after the Wolves boss ran onto the field to celebrate instead of shaking his hand first.
Nuno said he'd be fine if the Cardiff fans gave him some stick tomorrow.
"I respect Neil, we had a chance, not only by phone, but also personally, to clarify," he added.
"Things are clear, I respect him a lot. I'm going to shake his hand before and after, I learned my lesson!
"Our relationship now is with a lot of respect.
"I don't think it will add heat to the game. The players and teams play, it's not about managers.
"I'm ready (for any stick), they won't make a direct intervention on the game.
"It's a new game, some players are different, new game.
"It will be a very tough game, emotional for sure and we have to be ready and focused."
Apart from Jonny Castro Otto, Nuno has a fully-fit squad to choose from. A booking for Ruben Neves or Diogo Jota will see them earn a one-match suspension.
