Steve Davis: Forest's social media post gave Wolves an edge

The visitors posted an image of wolf cubs with the caption ‘playtime’ before later deleting the post after backlash.

At full-time, after Ruben Neves’ penalty secured all three points, Wolves bit back on Twitter with the image of an axe through a tree trunk with the caption ‘playtime’s over’ – while Neves did a similar post on his Instagram page.

Interim boss Davis believes that post gave Wolves all the added motivation they needed to secure all three points.

He said: “We were aware of it. We were going to use it in the talk but I spoke to Ruben and he’d already put it on the players’ chat, so I didn’t really need to say any more.

“If you can’t get motivated as a professional player then you shouldn’t be doing it, but that gave us an edge I think.

“I believe Ruben posted at full-time too, that’s part of the game. Those sort of things used to happen on the pitch, but they don’t do it so much now as social media has taken over.”

Jose Sa’s penalty save was crucial in Wolves picking up a win, as he denied Brennan Johnson in the second half, despite currently playing on with a fractured wrist.

The save was made with his left hand and when asked if that was the wrist that was injured, Davis added: “It was the other one, thankfully!

“He’s played through it and a lot of players can play through pain. Some can’t, so they don’t play, but in the past I’ve known lots of players play with a broken toe or broken fingers.

“It’s all about the player and the individual. Fair play to Jose for playing through that pain and showing the courage to do that, in a difficult situation at the moment for the club.

“They all need to be that big person at the moment if we’re going to turn our form around. I think we took a big step in doing that.”

When asked if it’s dangerous for Sa to be playing on with that injury, Davis said: “It depends on where that break is and what type of fracture it is.

“It can be hairline, it can be very little. Obviously if his wrist is hanging off he isn’t going to play.

“It’s about the severity of the damage to the wrist. He had an x-ray and looked at it with the medical team and they decide, with the player and the coach, whether the risk is worth it.”

Not only was the win important for Wolves in their fight to move away from the relegation zone, but it was a proud moment for lifelong Wolves fan Davis.

He said: “Brilliant. I can’t explain it. My voice has gone because I’ve been doing a lot of shouting.

“It was a brilliant experience. I did say if we win today I’ll retire, but I won’t.

“It doesn’t get much better for me really. I could sense the nervousness at the end, but that’s the time to be calm and take a step back to figure out how you can help. I tried to be calm in the madness, if you’re not calm the players can sense it.”

At full-time the South Bank chanted ‘Steve Davis, he’s one of our own’.

“I heard that at the end, it was fantastic,” Davis added.

“That’s where I spent a lot of time as a kid, as a six and seven-year-old swaying around. Back then it was standing and we would move around all over the place. I have great memories of that. That was a proud moment for me.”