Wolves had 47 shots against Brighton this season without scoring in both matches
Saturday 20 April 2019 18:36, UK
Brighton manager Chris Hughton praised his side's defensive rearguard after Wolves were held to a 0-0 draw at Molineux.
The Seagulls had lost their previous four league games, but, after successive home defeats increased relegation fears, the stalemate means they are now three points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff.
Hughton was bullish after Tuesday's 2-0 loss to the Bluebirds at the Amex Stadium, claiming his side's destiny was still in their own hands - and a courageous defensive display was the perfect riposte as a first clean sheet in eight outings was secured.
Hughton told Sky Sports: "We asked the players for a response, and we certainly got that with what they were prepared to give and how hard they were prepared to work.
"It's hard coming here as they've got so many good footballers. You know if you open up too much, they can hurt you. We could've been better with our link play, the times that we broke.
"But we knew it would be difficult and we knew if we could keep a clean sheet we gave ourselves a chance.
"The feel in the changing room considering what happened [against Cardiff] was okay. For long periods, we've been okay in the division and we're on the back of two defeats that hurt us, and people questioned our confidence.
"But you can't become a bad team overnight. This has hopefully set us up for what will be another four difficult games."
Diogo Jota twice hit the woodwork and Leander Dendoncker was denied by Mathew Ryan but Wolves dropped to ninth after the frustrating stalemate for them.
Brighton, who failed to have a shot on target, appeared to be content with a draw from the start but Hughton's conservative approach may still backfire with four games left - where they face Tottenham, Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City.
His players and coaching staff gleefully celebrated the point at the final whistle after only a second clean sheet on the road in the Premier League this season.
Hughton added: "We've got a great group of supporters who travel every game so we always give them the respect they deserve.
"We've been on the back of two very big defeats, especially the last one that hurt us against a team close to us in the division. Amongst that hurt we wanted to see a reaction.
"There's a bit of relief as not many people would've expected us to get a result at a hard place to come. We have and now we need to build on this."
