Edwards thrilled with Wolves' improvement ahead of facing Palace

Rob Edwards believes his Wolves team have displayed the characteristics needed for the rest of their season following their past two performances.

Wolves beat Grimsby Town in difficult conditions at Blundell Park to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup before coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Arsenal.

Indeed, it was the first time in Premier League history that a side starting the day bottom of the table avoided defeat to the side starting the day top after trailing by two goals.

And though Wolves are seemingly consigned to their fate of playing Championship football next year, Edwards said the mood in the squad had been lifted in recent weeks.

"I feel like we've been competing well, and I feel like there's a good energy around the place," Edwards told reporters.

"Two good results and we showed a lot of good character in both and that's what we're going to need in abundance going forward for the rest of the season."

The Wolves boss did, however, not underestimate the challenge of Crystal Palace, who are their next opponents in the Premier League this Sunday.

"They're good. They're playing in Europe for a reason. I know I said it in the first game, Oliver Glasner is a brilliant manager, he's done a brilliant job," Edwards added.

"They've got loads of good players, so it will be a really difficult game as always away from home."

Palace, meanwhile, have endured a difficult week, with the Eagles drawing 1-1 in their Conference League play-off first leg with Zrinjski.

It continued Palace's poor recent run, with Glasner's team managing just one win in their last 15 matches across all competitions.

And ahead of facing Wolves, Glasner delivered another eye-opening press conference, suggesting that he was not good enough to turn Palace's fortunes around. Reports have suggested the club's board elected against dismissing the Austrian, who will be leaving at the end of the season.

Despite 22 points separating the two teams ahead of kick-off, Glasner remains wary of the threat a resurgent Wolves side may pose to his team.

"When we played them away, I mentioned before that they were playing better than all their results, but they were in this negative run, and it was so tough for them," he said.

"I still think they have many good players. They showed it against Arsenal. Also, they showed great belief after being 2-0 down, coming back.

"They are now quite consistent in the way they are playing. Consistency always helps. They got a few players back from long-term injuries, now being more in the rhythm.

"It is a good mix of physicality in the back three and the striker, pace in the wing-back positions, and two Brazilian internationals in centre midfield – so they are a good team."

Strand Larsen comes up against his former club, for whom he scored 15 goals in 57 Premier League games, including one in 22 this season.

The last player to score for and against the same team in a single Premier League campaign (excluding own goals) was Henrikh Mkhitaryan in 2017-18 (Manchester United, then against them for Arsenal).

Indeed, the Norwegian has already scored more goals in 180 minutes of top-flight football for Crystal Palace this season (two) than he did in 1405 minutes for Wolves.

After netting a stunning goal against Arsenal, which was his first in the Premier League, Bueno will be keen to offer an option for Wolves in the final third.

Against the Gunners, he won more duels (nine) and recovered possession (10) more times than any of his team-mates, while only Yerson Mosquera (75) had more touches than the full-back (71, level with Ladislav Krejci).

Palace have won their last five Premier League home games against Wolves. It's their longest winning run against an opponent in their top-flight history, while they last won six consecutive home league games (in any division) against Walsall between 1977 and 2004.

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