Tavernier returned to the starting XI for the first time since November, having recovered from a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old had a mixed afternoon, but did grab the game’s only goal before being substituted just before the hour mark. Wolves dominated possession and shots at Molineux, but Cherries’ defence held firm, with centre-back duo Jack Stephens and Marcos Senesi in particular singled out for praise by boss Gary O’Neil after the contest.
Marcus Tavernier said: “It’s just good to contribute to the team and help us get a win. It was massive. We’ve been saying in every other interview that we needed to build on last week (against Newcastle) and I feel like we did that, both in going forward and a big, massive thanks for the defence, for the performance they put in. I feel us forward players (in the first half) could have could have been better in going forward and be more clinical on counter attacks, with the final pass and myself included, we could have been a lot better. But the manager told us at half time to just compose ourselves and take that into the second half, and we did that. And then the defence played the same way they did in the first half, keeping the ball out of net. And that’s got us the three points. It’s massive, always, to get the first goal, so you’re not chasing the game and we’ve done that. As attackers, our job is to put the ball in the back of the net and we’ve done that. The defence is there to keep the ball out and they were great throughout this game. We’ve got a lot of belief in that changing room. And we know we can’t get too high or too low in this league. We have to just keep taking it a game at a time. And I think with the last couple of performances, we can be happy with that, but we can’t get settled. We have to just keep building on it and getting better each week.”
The win lifted Cherries outside the relegation zone, sitting one point ahead of West Ham United with 13 games remaining. Cherries remain odds-on favourites with the bookmakers to go down, with their next three fixtures against the league’s current top two Manchester City and Arsenal, before hosting Liverpool.
Marcus Tavernier said: “I take no notice and we haven’t got here by luck. It’s not luck to get in this division so we have every right to stay in it and it’s just up to us to do that and make sure that happens.”
Asked how confident he is of Cherries’ survival chances,
Marcus Tavernier added: “That’s why we’re here. We’re in this league, like I said before, we’re not in here by luck. We’ve earned it. The boys did a great job last season to get promoted, and now it’s our job to stay in here and it’s not going to be easy. It’s the toughest league in the world, but we’re here to fight and do that.”
