Mario Lemina fires 'liars and cheaters' Wolves admission and makes shock relegation prediction

Wolves’ humiliation at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday leaves the Old Gold with merely one point in eight Premier League games this season.

It’s the club’s worst start to an English top-flight campaign since 2003/04, when Wolves were relegated to the Championship as 20th-placed finishers. There are fears Wanderers could once again face the drop if there aren’t dramatic changes made in the near future - but the board and players remain confident in head coach Gary O’Neil’s abilities.

Perhaps the most important squad member of all, captain Lemina, has responded to calls for O’Neil’s sacking, reiterating his faith in the manager with a bold statement.

“No, Gary is not the problem. He is doing really well. If we say Gary O’Neil is the problem, then we are liars and cheaters because he has given us a lot of things we didn’t have before,” Lemina told the media after the heavy defeat at Brentford.

“He has given a chance to a lot of players and now we have to give it back to him – at the moment we are not. They (the fans) are disappointed with us and I understand that. We have not won a game yet so they need to find some targets, but there are no targets. We are a team.”

With 30 games still to go and Wolves just three points adrift from safety, it’s probably too early to be overly concerned over the prospect of relegation. That said, there’s no excusing the average of three goals conceded per game and if that rate continues, the writing is on the wall.

Lemina added: “The way we are playing, the way we are defending right now, is going to get us relegated and we have to be honest about that. It is not easy for me. Because I am a warrior. I want to win. I want to fight. I want to be the best player I can be.”