Nuno Espirito Santo Admits 'There's No Excuses' After Wolves Slip to Surprise Home Defeat

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo admitted his side didn't deserve to get a result against Crystal Palace at Molineux on Wednesday after limping to a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

Late goals from Jordan Ayew and Luka Milivojevic sealed all three points for the visitors, in a game that saw Nuno's side fail to register a shot on target until the 86th minute.

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After the game, Nuno admitted that his side were simply not good enough - claiming that his team had ample preparation for the game.

"The first half was very compact, both teams very organised but we didn't quite get in the game. We have to do better," Nuno told BBC Sport.

"There's no excuses. We didn't perform well. Palace had one day less [to prepare] than us - so there's no excuses."

The result keeps Wolves in ninth place on 29 points, though victory would have seen them become the first promoted team since Birmingham in the 2009/10 season to reach 30 or more points after 21 games of the season.

One reason for their struggles was perhaps the compact nature of Palace's defending, with Nuno admitting that space in and around the box was limited given the setup of their opponents. 

"They reduced the spaces and we tried to find solutions ourselves, something that we’ve worked on before, but today there was not the energy to do those things. We arrived, but always late, and we have to get better," he added, as quoted by Wolves' official website.

"We missed too many opportunities to make the first pass. We’ll keep on going and keep analyzing, the boys must rest and recover well because the next challenge is around the corner. When we tried to go for the game things didn’t work out, so we have to improve and get better.

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"I was disappointed. It was a tough game. As the game went by we managed the ball, but credit to Crystal Palace, they fought, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It was not a good game."

Nuno will need to pick his team up as they face Liverpool next in the FA Cup at home, before a daunting Premier League clash with Manchester City.