Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo cools Premier League expectations

By PA Sport

Image: Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo guided Wolves to the Premier League in his first season in charge

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has moved to cool expectations after their return to the Premier League.

The former Porto boss guided the club, owned by wealthy Chinese group Fosun, to the Championship title by nine points.

They also have strong ties with super agent Jorge Mendes and some bookmakers have Wolves joint-seventh favourites for the Premier League title but Nuno remains wary.

He said: "What I feel is that expectations are very high and I am the only one that my expectations aren't so high.

Image: Wolves won the Championship title, nine points ahead of Cardiff

"I am very cautious of what's going on. The summer is important, to have decisions on the squad and then we will see.

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"We have to improve and work hard but we cannot say we are going to fight for the top 10. That will be a big mistake.

"We go to August 11, that's step one, then the next game. Honestly the decisions of the team are based on how you are progressing and what you are achieving.

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"You cannot say what's going to happen in December."

Image: Wolves celebrated their promotion with an open top bus parade around the city of Wolverhampton

The squad paraded the trophy in front of nearly 100,000 fans on the streets of Wolverhampton on Monday and Nuno, who signed a three-year deal last summer when he replaced Paul Lambert, believes they are ahead of schedule.

He said: "As the kind of ownership we have - Fosun, we are talking about a big group, a big company worldwide.

"We know our ownership wants to be as successful in football as they are in business but football is not business. Football is not mathematics. In football, you cannot insure anything.

Image: Wolves return to the Premier League after a six-year absence

"On that point, for example, we are one year ahead of schedule. That will tell you that they know, the owners and Jeff (Shi), that the Premier League is different and a big challenge.

"It is not my job to restrain their expectations, but just be realistic. If we can achieve what we want sooner, we will go for it."

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