Henry: We have made great strides

Wolves captain Karl Henry believes the club is now considerably stronger than when they returned to the top flight last year. The Molineux side began their second season back in the Premier League with a hard-fought but deserved 2-1 home win over rivals Stoke.Their challenge this term is to better last season's 15th place and Henry is confident of improvement.The Wolverhampton-born midfielder, 27, said: "Twelve months' experience is a long time in this league."Some of the games we played, and some of the hidings we got, I think we have all learned from."We're definitely a stronger team and added to that are a few new signings."It's a great start we've made. We're not going to get carried away but nonetheless it is a great start."Goals from David Jones and debutant Steven Fletcher in quick succession before half-time proved enough despite an Abdoulaye Faye reply.Stoke's record signing Kenwyne Jones hit the bar early on but he soon went off injured and Wolves squandered a number of chances that would have made victory more comfortable.Stoke did enjoy some good possession in the second half but Wolves held on to record a win on the opening day of the season for the first time since 1999.Henry said: "We've put that right and got an opening win on the first day of the season."Hopefully we can continue that for the next few games and kick on."It is one we wanted to win and felt we could win. It's a great feeling, three points, and it doesn't get much better than that."The manager told us the way we were going to beat them was to get the ball down and pass it - not get wrapped up in their game, which is a direct, long-ball style of play."We wanted to play our game and I felt we did that in the first half."We got the goals and then weathered the storm well in the second half."We're disappointed to concede a goal but nevertheless it is a good victory."Stoke are now waiting for news on the fitness of Jones, who left the ground on crutches.The Trinidad and Tobago striker, signed for £8million from Sunderland in the week, fell awkwardly under a challenge from Jody Craddock.The 25-year-old was due to undergo a scan on his ankle today.Potters midfielder Michael Tonge, who featured as a second-half substitute, said: "I'm a gutted for him. He started really well and hit the bar. If that had gone in it would have been a different game."I've played against him when he's been at Southampton and Sunderland and he is a handful."Kenwyne on top of his game will be a handful for any centre-half in the league."Tonge is back at the Britannia Stadium after loan spells at Preston and Derby last season.After struggling to make an impression at Stoke in the two years since his £2million move from Sheffield United, the 27-year-old was linked with other clubs over the summer.But at present he is concentrating on life with the Potters."Without a shadow of a doubt, it is good to be back," he said."I'm just going to work hard in training and hopefully I'll get opportunities."Stoke are looking to improve on their finishes of 12th and 11th in the past two seasons to claim a place in the top half.Yet after yesterday's defeat, and with games against Tottenham and Chelsea to come, they face a difficult task to get their campaign up and running."There is a long way to go, but it still doesn't make getting beaten any nicer and we'll try to put it right next weekend," Tonge said."The gaffer will look at the video and see what he thinks and we'll look and see where we went wrong."I'm sure we'll bounce back next week."

Source: Team_Talk