Ryan Bennett on Wolves' China adventure: We've earned this
Ryan Bennett says Wolves are reaping the rewards of their hard work as they make the most of their China experience – ahead of next week's Europa League campaign.
Centre-half Bennett joined the club on a free transfer from Norwich City in the summer of 2017, the day before Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed as boss.
Wolves had just finished mid-table in the Championship.
Two years later they have qualified for Europe via finishing seventh in the Premier League and are currently embarking on an historic trip to the Far East.
"We deserve what we've got, we've worked hard for two years to put ourselves in this position,
"As an experience it's very good – hopefully it's something we can enjoy and benefit from."
Wolves arrived in Shanghai to a big welcome from their Chinese fans, complete with posters and banners of the likes of Conor Coady and Ruben Neves.
"You'd probably struggle to find one of me!" Bennett joked.
"It was good, there were a lot of people at the hotel, we got a good welcome, you saw the posters and the banners there, we had a few pictures and were made to feel very welcome."
A host of under-23 and under-18 players are out in Shanghai with Nuno's first-team squad.
The likes of Terry Taylor, Luke Cundle, Christian Marques and Taylor Perry have a chance of featuring in the Premier League Asia Trophy games against Newcastle and either Manchester City or West Ham.
Bennett said: "We're a tight-knit group, we work hard together and always pass on our experiences to each other.
"Some of the youngsters have got big experiences themselves, the likes of Ruben Neves have been away for the Nations League and won it.
"The experiences they've been through in the past will stand us in good stead for what we've got coming.
"We'll take each game as it comes."
Wolves fly back to England this weekend and will have just a few days to prepare for the club's first European tie in 39 years, against either Crusaders or B36 Torshavn at Molineux next Thursday.
If Wolves progress, they'll need to get through two more qualifying rounds to reach the group stages in September.
Hopes are high that Wolves can embark on a decent run in the competition, especially with the experience of European football they have within the group.
Bennett says they'll go as far as they can.
"It’s obviously a good competition, first and foremost," he said.
"It’s something we worked very hard for last year, to gain entry. We worked hard every single week to put ourselves in a position to enable us to play these games.
"We’re looking to go out there and take each game as it comes and try and get as far as we can in the competition. That’s the minimum we’ll try and do."
