Julen Lopetegui: Keeping Wolves up the most difficult achievement of my career
Julen Lopetegui admits keeping Wolves in the Premier League has been the 'most difficult achievement' of his career after victory over Villa took them to 40 points.
Wolves are not quite mathematically safe, but it would take a remarkable collapse for them to be relegated now, after Toti Gomes' goal got them all three points in the West Midlands derby.
Lopetegui has now hinted for the first time that Wolves are safe, and admitted people told him he was 'crazy' for taking the job.
He said: "They are very important points for us. To arrive to 40 points, it's not mathematical but we've achieved our aim.
"I'm very pleased for the club, our fans, the players. It's been a hard year of progression.
"We arrived in November with 10 points, after 15 matches. It was a very bad situation, a lot of people said to me you're crazy to go there, but I believed.
"It was a challenge in my life as a coach, it has been the most difficult achievement I've achieved, much more so than the Europa League and putting Sevilla three times in the Champions League.
"To stay in the Premier League after the difficult situation, I am very happy for the players and after our reaction to the last defeat against Brighton, which was a big disappointment. It was a hard week, for the fans too, but they showed that they are better players than they showed at Brighton. Congratulations to them."
Lopetegui enjoyed the celebrations post match as he approached a buoyant south bank.
He added: "Today I showed more emotion, yes. I am human. We suffer a lot."
Meanwhile, Hugo Bueno was left out of the squad against Villa, but Lopetegui confirmed it was a 'tactical decision' and not an injury to the left-back.
The decision to recall Toti paid off as he scored the winner, while Rayan Ait-Nouri was given his first chance on the bench for almost two months.
