PREVIEW: Walter Zenga delighted with reaction from Wolves players

The Italian was furious after Tuesday's 4-0 shock defeat to Barnsley, accusing his team of giving up.

But after the players analysed the game on Wednesday - on what was originally supposed to be a day off - Zenga said the Barnsley chapter is closed.

He said of Tuesday's loss: "Every time you take a lesson and every time you have to learn about the game.

"We have to think about what happened in the last 15 minutes of the game.

"For the first 70 minutes it was 0-0 and we created chances to score, we had some good things.

"But then, also with my change (Ivan Cavaleiro for Dominic Iorfa), we created unbalance in the team.

"But what we analyse was the last 15 minutes because you cannot give up in this way and let someone, especially in your house, score four goals."

How have the players reacted to the defeat? "Fantastic," Zenga said. "You have to analyse immediately what you did. We had a great meeting, good training and we remove immediately what happened.

"We analyse every time what we did during a game. It's easy for me to show something when you win - you can say 'hey look guys everything is great'.

"But when you lose you have to be attentive to what you say. And as a coach you have to be direct, concrete in your words and easy to understand.

"I think that we understand. It's not that 'they' lost the game and 'we' understand where there was a mistake. 'We' lost the game, everybody.

"My change probably unbalanced the team. We analysed and closed the chapter."

Rafa Benitez's Newcastle are expected to make changes after their 6-0 win at QPR on Tuesday - a game which saw the likes of Dwight Gayle, Mo Diame and Jack Colback remain on the bench, although Zenga doesn't think it's more difficult to prepare his team not knowing what line-up the opposition will select.

Wolves travelled north to Newcastle this afternoon and will remain in the city ahead of Tuesday's EFL Cup game against the same opposition - a coincidence Zenga said he has never experienced in football before.

He believes the time away together will be beneficial for his squad.

"It's not good for the professional players to travel more than 10 hours on a bus (in total)," he said.

"It's good to stay there to rest and prepare for the next game. It's a time also to stay together, to know each other and work in our way.

"The work is not just training, it's also discussion and talking about normal issues of life, to be more together and as a family.

"It's a coincidence we play in the same stadium three days later. It permits us to stay in the same place, more organisation to prepare the game.

"Talking about another team (Newcastle) is always difficult. My philosophy is that we're concentrating on my team and what we have to do.

"Talking about Newcastle and what they are, or the atmosphere or the coach, is useless, because everybody knows.

"They are a famous club, have a big stadium, and that's why for me it's the right game for us in the right moment.

"The fact you know some (opposition) players better or not doesn't help you. For example, someone can think they didn't know the players of Barnsley, and they lost the game.

"It's not true because I can tell you all the things about the players of Barnsley.

"We can also say he (Rafa Benitez) doesn't have experience of the Championship! No, just joking. He's one of the top managers. His last team was Real Madrid!"

Zenga knows full well the benefits of a strong team spirit.

He said yesterday's incredible Europa League clash between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Zenit St Petersburg highlighted this.

"That's why I was upset after the last game," he added. "Team spirit is a thing that you never give up.

"Today I told the players that yesterday we watched the Europa League and one team (Zenit) was with 15 minutes left 3-0 down and they win 4-3.

"They scored one goal, the other team complains - one yellow card. Three minutes left, a second yellow card (and a red), then from the free kick it's 3-2 and the game reopened.

"You never know when is the end. You have to continue to play."

Wolves will play in the Championship's biggest stadium tomorrow in the form of the 52,000-capacity St James' Park.

It's an occasion Zenga will want his players to rise to. But he doesn't see the size of the stadium as making a difference.

He said: "On Wednesday I was in Birmingham to watch Aston Villa v Brentford. I have had a good impact in the stadium - I played in 1991, Uefa Cup. The stadium was different of course.

"But as a player I have a good memory about one stadium in Finland that was only 5,000 people. You enjoy all the time to play games and visit clubs.

"St James' Park is one of the famous stadiums. They make also one movie there - Goal!

"It's fantastic, but I don't make the difference between one stadium and another."

Zenga has used plenty of players in the opening weeks of the season but three new signings - Romain Saiss, Silvio and Ola John - are yet to feature.

The Wolves boss said of the trio: "If you're asking me about Ola John I ask you, who stay out? If I don't choose some players there are a reason.

"He arrived in the last part of the transfer window. And the last game he played was in May. Saiss, when he arrived, had one knee not in the right way.

"We are not stupid that we don't use the players if we buy them. When they're ready they're going to play, 100 per cent."