Every word from Andoni Iraola ahead of Wolves v Bournemouth

Q: Is there any fresh injury news or any chance of any players returning?

AI: We are in the same situation we were 30 hours before. We don’t lose anyone, we don’t recover anyone, so it’s going to be the same players available. We will have to choose from there.

Q: You saw Wolves play on Saturday night. What did you think of them?

AI: I think they are having a very good season, probably like us. The last results haven’t been on their side. But I think they are slowly recovering the important players for them. I expect some changes in their line-up, because I think they will recover some important players. We have to be ready to face a very good team.

Q: It is you against Gary O'Neil, the former Bournemouth manager. Is it wrong to personalise this match?

AI: For us it’s just a match where we have chances to get more points. We have a very difficult schedule in the last games of the season. We have to try to take every opportunity we have. We face a team that is very close to us and obviously it is always important. We are fighting for positions and that is the important thing from the game I would say.

Q: It is fair to say though he has done a great job at Wolves and you have done a great job here.

AI: I think both seasons have been very good, for both clubs. But we still haven’t finished. We want to finish strong and finish with good sensations, looking also for next season.

Now it is has been difficult preparation, with just two days and travelling twice. I hope we are ready again for tomorrow, because it is going to be another strong fight, like the Villa one.

Q: There are five games left. Your record Premier League points tally is 46 and your record finish is ninth. Do you think you can beat both of those?

AI: I think especially the points, we’ve been focusing on that in the last weeks. It is achievable, but it is going to be difficult, because we have to beat strong teams and teams that are in good form. We will have to be good if we want to beat the points total.

Q: Dominic Solanke has 18 goals and has a genuine chance of winning the golden boot. Can he do it?

AI: It is going to be difficult, because the other forwards are also in very good form. They are scoring goals. But he will try, for sure.

I think he is performing really well, really consistent during all the season. I think he has given us very good performances since the beginning. I will not ask only for the goals.

I am very happy and sure he is very happy if he helps us get points, even if he doesn’t score more.

Q: Do you think he is getting the credit he deserves?

AI: It is normal that the attention goes to the top teams, to the ones fighting for the title or Champions League.

But I think probably it adds merit that Solanke has scored 18 goals for Bournemouth. Normally we would finish with less goals than other teams that are fighting for the title.

Q: How much do you think you have helped him as a player?

AI: I wouldn’t say he has improved a lot this season. I think he was really good from the first day I arrived here.

He is a very complete player. He obviously adapts very well to the way we want to play, because he helps us a lot also out of possession and I am happy he is receiving some recognition.

But he has to continue. I think he is in good form, but he has to finish the season strong, for him personally.

Q: Zabarnyi has played all 33 Premier League games and not missed a minute. He has been incredible, at only 21. Why has he been so good?

AI: I really think Zaba has improved this season, a lot. If you see Zaba from the beginning of the season, he was a very good player, but obviously with his age, so young, probably he was making more mistakes and he didn’t have the confidence you can see he has now.

He has to continue this improvement, because he gives us a lot of insurance at the back. He is defending in very difficult duels against tough opposition and he is winning a lot.

I am very happy, because I can see how much he wants to improve, how much he demands of himself and I think he still has a better future ahead.

Q: It is very unusual for an outfield player not to be subbed. Could he got all 38 games playing every minute?

AI: I think he could, because he is someone who is physically very strong, very robust.

If Zaba complains about something, there is an injury there. Normally he takes part in full training, every day.

I think he is winning confidence on the ball, being more brave in the build-up and we are really lucky to have him.

Q: The fans love him, with a chant to the adaptation of Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'. Do you like the song?

AI: I don’t really understand what they are singing!

I know that it is something about Zaba, but I think it’s good, especially for him.

• 'I love it' - Zabarnyi dancing along to Cherries supporters' new chant

He came here 18 months ago and for sure there has been an adaptation. Last season wasn’t easy for him, because he had some injury concerns and he didn’t play as much as he wanted, for sure.

But this season has been really good.

The confidence gives you more leadership, he starts talking more. He speaks perfect English, he can communicate very well with his teammates.

He has to continue, because he still has room to improve, which considering his age and his level, is really good for him.

Q: His friends and family back home in Ukraine are caught up in the war. Does he talk about that much?

AI: We don’t talk too much, but sometimes we touch on it.

He remembers things from when he was there playing for Dynamo Kyiv, how things started.

He thinks that the best thing he can do for his friends, family and country is to play as best as he can, to help from here.

Sometimes we ask him how he feels, but I think he is quite mature for his age. He has lived through a lot of things for a 21-year-old player. I think he deals quite well with it.

Q: There is a big story involving Nottingham Forest. Everybody saw the penalty claims against Everton, but none of them were given and they questioned the integrity of the VAR officials. What have you made of that and the incidents?

AI: We always complain when we think the referee hasn’t gone to our side and we feel it is not fair.

Normally I try to give my point of view and there are things we have to accept.

As managers that is difficult, because they can cost you points or your position. But I think we have to be really demanding with the referees, because there is a lot in play.

There are some limits you probably cannot cross, but with the tension and everything that is in play, sometimes it is difficult.

Q: If you had been the manager on Sunday in that game and had three shouts like that all denied, how angry would you be?

AI: For sure I would be angry. I was angry the other day against United! I think it is normal.

When you think the decision is not correct and it goes against you, it is difficult to accept. But it will always happen and it is frustrating, but you have to finish accepting it and, I know it is difficult, but to try to demand of the referees to continue improving.

Q: How has Zabarnyi reacted to the weekend when Ollie Watkins gave him a tough 45 minutes?

AI: I think Zaba was really, really good the other day against Villa. The first half was amazing, elite level he did against Ollie Watkins. I think after he received the yellow card in the 55th minute, it was much more difficult for him.

We were trusting him probably too much. We were not helping him, because we wanted to keep our pressure really high.

It was working very well in the first half, but after we received the yellow cards for Adam Smith, for Marcos and Zaba, we couldn’t keep the same level of aggressiveness in the press.

Then you start leaving more spaces and having to defend situations where in the first half we were attacking them. It changed the dynamic of the game a little bit, that yellow card. But I think he dealt really well with the game.

Q: Is that something he needs to learn, dealing better playing with a yellow card? Or is it more of a team thing?

AI: I think we didn’t help him enough. I think we should have helped him more.

It is a matter also of the teammates knowing each other.

We felt like in the first half he was amazing, he was winning every duel against difficult opposition.

The moment where probably you cannot be as aggressive when you have a yellow card, you have to give just one or two more metres and against players like Ollie Watkins or Moussa Diaby, which is enough against those kind of players.

I think we should have read better the situations, to not be as aggressive, be a little bit compact and help our centre-backs a little bit more, because also Marcos was with a yellow. We couldn’t be as aggressive.

Q: What have you made of Dango Ouattara's season?

AI: We have big expectations from Dango.

He has very difficult opposition, because we have very good wingers and they have been playing very well, Tav, Antoine, Sini, Brooksy until Christmas, so it hasn’t been easy for him to get the minutes.

But also he has given us very good things. For me, he has played very, very well as a left-back, before he had the injury and had to stop.

He has not had continuity during the season, because when he has found a little bit of form, he has got injured.

He has had a couple of bad injuries at the beginning and after Christmas that probably hasn’t given him the chance to get more minutes.

Q: The jobs Gary O'Neil has done here and at Wolves have come without having a pre-season. How much extra credit does he deserve for that? How key are those weeks in pre-season?

AI: I think you have to value it a lot. He did very well here last season. The first year after promotion is always very difficult.

He has done it very well at Wolves.

Obviously to have a pre-season is always an advantage, because you have time to make mistakes, before it really counts.

I am sure they will be even more dangerous next season after a proper pre-season.

It makes me think we also have to be better, because other teams will continue improving.

Q: How much did Lewis Cook's red card against Wolves surprise you and how he reacted afterwards?

AI: It surprised me, because Lew has experience and is normally quite mature. He doesn’t normally react like this.

It was just a fraction of a second. It was not even a proper hit, but it is true he made a mistake.

But he realised it straightaway. As soon as he was leaving the pitch, he knew what had happened.

Unfortunately for us, we finished losing that game with 10 players.

The good side is that when he came back after the suspension, he came with really good form and spot on mentality. He has been performing really well since then.

I think he realised straightaway that in an important moment of the season he had made a mistake.

It was motivation, like now I have to really do extra to give a little bit more. Like we said about Zaba, I think he has been really, really consistent all season, in different positions with different teammates around him. I hope he finishes strong.