Gary O'Neil insisted Wolves' players needed him after their 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Ipswich left the boss under a lot of pressure.
Jack Taylor scored with the last attack of the game to send the Wolves and O'Neil into further trouble as Ipswich secured a huge 2-1 victory.
Wolves have now lost their last four Premier League games, winning just two of 16 in the competition this season, and O'Neil admitted afterwards that the results have to come on if he wants to keep his job.
But he vowed to fight on, saying: “That group needs me to get them to a place where they are ready to go and I will keep fighting for them. And that doesn't mean I'm not going to fire him. For every result, the chances of losing my job will increase, that's nothing new – it doesn't bother me.
“When I talk to Matt (Hobbs, sporting director) and Jeff (Shi, chairman), they tell me I have to do more or they'll replace me. That's the same message to the players, you have to do more to compete at this level or you'll get placed.
“I'm not interested in my own situation – I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we're in. To make the group this is a performance like they did today. people can comment on the situation we are in. but some of the responsibilities have to land on the players in those moments when we get in a good position and when we send the ball off the pitch – I can't help them with that.”
'Ait-Nouri must learn to control himself'
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Rayan Ait-Nouri had to be dragged off in a full-time scuffle following their 2-1 defeat to Ipswich.
For the second week in a row – after Mario Lemina was involved in a full-time streak at West Ham – Wolves' defeat sparked angry scenes as Rayan Ait-Nouri, who received a second yellow card after the whistle, dragged down. the tunnel with team-mate Craig Dawson after battling Ipswich's Wes Burns as boos went down from the stands.
O'Neill was frustrated that he has to deal with discipline problems within his team: “I was disappointed that he was not able to discipline himself as we need him. We are short enough in areas of the pitch and now I have to find a left-back for next week. The players need to understand the importance of making good decisions in the game and after the game.
“Disagreements with opposition players after the game can happen and Rayan (Ait-Nouri) needs to handle it better and not cross the line. seen It's strange.
O'Neill a desperate man on a bank
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Ipswich's Premier League win against Wolves.
Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:
O'Neill spoke as a man who knew that there might be no coming back from here. He challenged his players directly, saying: “Come on guys this is the Premier League. (Dara) O'Shea pushes down the pitch for (Liam) Delap and we don't deal with it, it's not me. I can't fix that. That's the guys.
He was using the example of the opening goal of Ipswich where Nelson Semedo was completely frustrated by Delap. In fairness to Semedo, not many defenders in this league could have done much to stop the Ipswich striker. But there was frustration in O'Neill's voice who has seen this story before where his team's lack of physicality has been the cause of their many losses.
Wolves have now conceded 74 goals in 34 games in 2024, working out to an average of 2.18 per game. And they have conceded two or more goals in 11 of their last 13 Premier League games.
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