Nuno Espirito Santo Pleased With 'Determined' Display Following Comprehensive Win Over West Ham

Wolves' manager Nuno Espirito Santo hailed his players' character as they brushed aside West Ham 3-0 on Tuesday night. After enduring a frustrating opening

Wolves' manager Nuno Espirito Santo hailed his players' character as they brushed aside West Ham 3-0 on Tuesday night. 

After enduring a frustrating opening hour, Romain Saiss opened the scoring before Raul Jimenez added gloss to the scoreline late on, netting two goals in six minutes to seal a vital victory over their mid-table opposition.

FT | #WOL 3-0 #WHU

A stunning second-half display from Wolves sees @Nuno's men run out 3-0 winners over @WestHamUtd. Goals from Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez (2). #WOLWHU

⏱🐺 pic.twitter.com/meZWNagAAR

— Wolves (@Wolves) January 29, 2019

The win was Wolves' third in their last five league outings, leaving Santo pleased with their patience against a stubborn outfit.

"You never know (if you will break through)," he said, speaking after the match as quoted by Sky Sports. "What I think is that we have to keep insisting minute after minute to achieve what we want, we can't spend too long complaining. We did well.

"We played good, in the first half we played well but we didn't manage to score. We kept the tempo and composure up. We had good position and movement, but there was always the danger of them hitting us on the counter-attack.

Clive Mason/GettyImages

"We have the next challenge now. The table doesn't mean anything to any team at all, we have to keep focused on the next challenge - and that's Everton." 

Led by the instrumental Diogo Jota and Jimenez, the pairing were once again integral in the Wanderers' latest triumph, with the latter grabbing his seventh and eighth goals of the campaign, whilst moving the Midlands outfit up to seventh in the table. 

Currently on a season-long loan from Portuguese outfit Benfica, Jimenez' form has prompted calls for a permanent move from supporters, as Santo seeks a regular goal-scorer.

Santo was impressed by Jimenez' performance, adding (via Express & Star): "Raul is doing a fantastic job because we want the goals that he scores, the way he plays, the combination and the way he works.

Raúl Jiménez has been involved in 13 #PL goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers this season (8 goals, 5 assists)#WOLWHU pic.twitter.com/M9tA0lA5ca

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 30, 2019

"He doesn't stop. He's always giving us the first moment of reaction to loss of the balls.

"It's amazing. He has to keep on going, and these decisions will be made when they have to be made. Today is not the day to do it."