No excuses for Wolves’ collapse at Brighton, says Nuno

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo was left frustrated after his side let slip a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday and said his players paid the price for lack of game management.

Aaron Connolly gave Brighton an early lead but Romain Saiss levelled with a header before Dan Burn scored an own goal and Ruben Neves converted a penalty to put Wolves in command by halftime.

But Neal Maupay’s penalty straight after the interval gave Brighton hope and captain Lewis Dunk headed in a Leandro Trossard cross in the 70th minute to help Graham Potter’s side snatch a point.

“It was mistakes. After a fantastic first half, from the first minute of the second half there’s no explanation,” Nuno told reporters after the game.

“The first half, every time we attacked, we were dangerous. I felt the game was in our control. It’s just a question of sticking together and I think the team has the ability to do much better.

“We have to be more responsible. There’s no excuse. As a team, we should have performed better. We give credit to Brighton but I felt it was more about us than our opponent.”

With Raul Jimenez sidelined for the foreseeable future after he underwent surgery on a fractured skull, Nuno is on the lookout for a new striker and could dip into the January market to sign reinforcements.

“We have to rebalance our squad in terms of positions we’re missing,” he said. “But we trust the young boys, we try to support them. This is the way we work. We don’t have to panic.”

The result left Wolves in 13th place on 22 points from 17 games. They face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Friday.