As Wolves prepare to step out at Molineux for the first time in the 2024/25 Premier League season against Chelsea, Toti has issued a rallying call to the supporters in the stands.

The defender was part of a new centre-back partnership with Yerson Mosquera as Wolves switched to a back four for their opening game of the campaign at the Emirates last weekend, and despite conceding twice to Arsenal, believes there is plenty of quality in the backline to deal with the threat the Blues pose this weekend.

But as the team look to get off to the best possible start at home this season, Toti is hoping the fans will give the players the support they need from the first to the last whistle on Sunday.

Starting the Season Strong

“Starting the season with Arsenal, we knew it was going to be a tough opponent. We know the team they are and every year they've been fighting for the championship.

“But we did a good preseason and we tried to prepare well for the first match, and we went there, and everything didn’t go how we wanted, but we knew it was going to be a tough one because of the opponent.

“We tried our best, but we still have a lot to learn and to show. We know that if we did some of the details a little bit better, we could have left there with a better result.”

A New Defensive Partnership

“We've been working like this in the pre-season, not just with Yerson, but with Craig [Dawson] and Santi Bueno too. We've been swapping a lot.

“It's good to work with all of them, they’re all fantastic players, and I am sure that everyone who is inside of the pitch is going to be do their best for the team, to protect the goal. In the training ground, it's really important, especially the communication.

“It’s one of the most important factors. When you have a good communication with your colleague on the pitch, things are going to be much better and easier.”

Adapting to Different Formations

“We've been swapping during the preseason like that, either a back three or four, we’ve been trying to pass the idea that the gaffer passes to us to the game as well.

“Sometimes one can be easier than the other, but sometimes, even when we have experienced players on the pitch trying to help us with this type of information, like Craig Dawson, it helps us a lot, to try to understand everything. It's good to have players like this in the team.

“It's the manager that first passes the ideas, but when you're on the pitch, sometimes we have to decide what we're going to do. That’s why we have to try to understand the game, how's the opponent's going to press us, so it's important that we understand the game too, and not just the gaffer.”

The Importance of a Home Game

“It’s an important game, our first one at home, and it's going to be a different environment, especially with the support of the fans, so it's really good to play at home.

“It's going to be a tough game again against a good opponent, Chelsea, but we know the team that we are too. We beat them twice last season, and this season, we are going to try to do our best get some good results.

“We don't know exactly what team they are going to put out, but we just need to be prepared, because each player that they have, we know they're going to be a tough opponent. We need to worry about ourselves first, and whoever comes to play for them, we respect.”

Facing a Squad With Depth

“What they've been doing is different. I don't know if this has happened before football, because they have a big amount of players in the team, and it can be good because you have competition, but sometimes you could have too many players, and I don’t know how they manage with that.

“But we’ll see how Sunday goes. We've been preparing throughout the week for this next game and we’re excited to play against them and see how it's going to be too.”

A Message to the Fans

“I want to tell them just to stick with us from the beginning till the end. It's not going to be an easy game, but trust in us and put confidence in us, because we want to do our best for the team and for them.”

Molineux Can Be The Difference

O'Neil insists the Molineux crowd can be the difference for Wolves.

He said, “I don't know if they can feel it from where they are, but the impact they have on the players is huge, massive. It's not really me, because I'm stood there, and I get to stand and think and have a real clear mind while I'm watching the football match, whereas the players are out there on the field competing and having a fan base that is fully behind you and is cheering and still behind you when things are going tough makes it so much easier to perform than when they're not so with you.

“It makes a massive, massive difference. All of that pressure and all that responsibility is not on the fan base. A lot of that is on me and on us as a playing group, to make sure that we give them something they can feel and buy into. I think that was the key last year, that they could feel something. They could feel that everyone was giving everything. There was an excitement. There was some energy around how we played.

“Then even when we started to struggle, you could still tell that the fans understood, and they were willing to stay with the team, and that will be huge for us again this year. The Premier League, as we've seen, is going to be probably more difficult than last season. We're going to need everybody, the fans that come every week, the fans that come five times a year, myself, the players, the staff. We're going to need everybody here to help us try and have a successful campaign.”