Jones hits back at critics

Wolves boss Dave Jones has launched a vicious attack on the TV pundits who have condemned his side as relegation fodder.

Jones saw his battling outfit fail to grab a deserved point from their daunting trip to Old Trafford as John O’Shea’s 10th-minute winner kept them anchored to the foot of the table.

However, like his opposite number Alex Ferguson, Jones felt his team’s performance restored some much-needed credibility to the Black Country outfit, providing the platform from which he launched his assault on Rodney Marsh and Charlie Nicholas, who have been outspoken in their criticism of the newly-promoted side.

“People have chosen to express their opinions when they don’t have a clue what is going on inside the club,” said Jones.

“We don’t have our leading goalscorer, our main supplier, our goalkeeper and our central defender. Even Manchester United would struggle with an injury-list like that and that is why we have started the season off slowly.

“It’s not the Press, it’s the ex-players. They seem to know an awful lot from sitting on the other side of the fence given they are only doing the jobs they are because they couldn’t do the one I am in.

“Before they open their mouths they should pick up the telephone and speak to me.

“We went to Old Trafford with a game-plan, conceded an early goal, which put us on the back foot, and still then we took the game to them. We can walk away with our heads held high but I would rather have had a scrappy game and drawn 1-1.”

In stark contrast to pointless Wolves, United boast a 100% record from their three games, which marks their best start to a Premiership season.

However, the run of victories has not come without a price as Ferguson bemoans a lengthening injury list, which will see Paul Scholes enter hospital for a hernia operation in the next few weeks.

The smart money would be on his recovery period covering at least one international break, one of which follows Sunday’s trip to Southampton, especially as Ferguson claimed the injury had worsened dramatically when the midfielder returned from England duty last week.

“Paul has been carrying a hernia problem for quite a bit,” revealed the United boss.

“We told the England people about it but they still played him for an hour. When he came back he was in a real state. It is really painful and at the moment it is not possible for him to play two games in a week.

“He will need an operation at some point but we will have to pick our moment and we will look at it again after Sunday’s game.”

With Ruud van Nistelrooy drawing a blank for the first time in 11 Premiership outings, United were indebted to O’Shea’s first senior goal to give them victory.

The Irishman powered onto a Diego Forlan corner early in the contest, although it didn’t bring the avalanche of goals many had predicted.

“I was talking to the manager beforehand and he joked that we shouldn’t even bother taking corners when I come up for them,” said the young Irish international.

“It was nice to score though, particularly as my dad had backed me as first goalscorer.”

With debutant Kleberson and fellow new arrivals Eric Djemba-Djemba and Cristiano Ronaldo all failing to make an impact, the result was tough luck on Wolves, for whom Henri Camara wasted a series of glorious chances either side of the interval.

And the outcome brought a stinging response from Paul Ince, who condemned his former manager’s decision to name an under-strength side.

“Ferguson thought he could take liberties with his team and it nearly came unstuck,” blasted Ince, who was outstanding in his midfield holding role.

“The longer the game went on, the more we fancied our chances.”