Ryan Bennett: Wolves long throws show we're adapting
He may have needed to get the WD40 out to loosen up his arms, but Ryan Bennett certainly seems to be enjoying his central role in a surprise new Wolves tactic.
In the last two games the centre-half has frequently been seen jogging upfield to unleash a long throw into the opposition box – certainly something not seen at Wolves since Nuno Espirito Santo took charge.
Bennett says the idea came 'out of the blue' but is indicative of Wolves' new approach to add different dimensions to their game.
"It's just something the manager's decided we can add to our game," Bennett said.
"He said with the size of (Willy) Boly and how good he is in the air, why not utilise it now and again.
"It came a bit out the blue, he just told me I was on them, I took a couple in training and then the first one in the game the other day (against Chelsea) went further than I thought!
"When I was really young, in my Grimsby days I used to take a few but it's not been for a while, so I got the WD40 on the shoulders and got it going!"
Wolves adopted a more rugged approach at Cardiff, then changed formation against Chelsea and again during the Newcastle game.
"We know we need to add that dimension, we can't 'play' all the time," Bennett added.
"We like to get the ball down and it all looks nice but sometimes you do need to have that determination.
"It's one of those things we added."
Matt Doherty headed home the latest of late winners when Wolves won 2-1 at Newcastle on Sunday.
It was their second win in two games and has seen them climb back into the top half of the table.
Bennett said: "It was good, it's probably the best way to win.
"You don't want to win like that, but scoring late, it's the best feeling you can have in football.
"It was hard, in times in the game we found it difficult but we stayed together, we were never down in the game.
"We kept working, we kept going, (Diogo) Jota gets the ball and the lads are working hard in the 94th minute, that's what you need. We got our reward.
"It's tough against 10 men. You do a lot of it in training, working against 10, it's always hard to break down.
"It was up to us to go and force the game, we tried doing that and got our reward.
"At the back you've got to stay switched on, you get in the mindset 'don't let anything slip', the worst thing that could happen is give that away."
The successive victories ended a miserable run of five defeats in six games.
Bennett added: "We stuck together and worked hard every day. We have a way of playing, we've tinkered that and added some new things."
