Wolves' Adama Traore: Culture club have the edge for Braga game
Adama Traore says Wolves have the edge going into Thursday’s Europa League clash with Braga due to the large Portuguese contingent at Molineux.
Braga are coming over from the nation which Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo hails from, and stars Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho won Euro 2016 representing.
Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota are also from Portugal, Raul Jimenez played in the Primeira Liga for Benfica, and Willy Boly and Pedro Neto both used to be at Braga.
It means Wolves have a great idea of what to expect from Ricardo Sa Pinto’s side, and speedster Traore said: “The coach comes from Portuguese football and so do many of our players.
"We know about Portuguese football, we know the Portuguese culture.
“They know the players and the league, and they have played teams like Braga many times before.
“We will accept any help we can as we attempt to keep moving forward to become a better team.
“It has to help that we know so much about them and they don’t know so much about us.
“It’s the same for me if I play a Spanish team – I come from there and I know their mentality.
"That has to help if you know the mentality of your opponent, and how he wants to play."
Thursday’s encounter marks the start of Wolves’ campaign in Group K, which also includes Besiktas and Slovan Bratislava.
And after how they lost to Chelsea at the weekend, Traore and his team-mates are keen to put on a show.
“Definitely. The first thing we have to do is cut out the errors,” he said. “It’s tough to lose five goals at home, but we have to put it behind us now and keep pushing on.
“We still have many games in front of us.
“We trust the process and we trust what we are doing. I am sure the results will come.
“Any player wants to play in European competition, it is exciting and it’s a new thing for many of us.
“It’s another area where we want to improve with help from the coach.”
Meanwhile, tickets for the Europa trip to Turkish team Besiktas went on sale to gold and silver away season ticket holders this morning.
Wolves have been allocated 2,129 tickets – priced at £15 for all ages – for the game at Vodafone Park in Istanbul on Thursday, October 3.
And at the time of writing, there were still tickets – £20 for adults – available for Thursday’s match against Braga.
