Wolverhampton Wanderers news from BirminghamLive ahead of the Premier League game at Luton Town
Wolves are picking themselves up after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool left them on three points with four losses out of five from their Premier League campaign so far. Gary O’Neil’s side were excellent to lead 1-0 at half time but overwhelmed in the second half as two goals in the last ten minutes clinched victory for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
So, Wolves have to quickly move on to their next game, at Luton Town on Saturday. But what sort of shape are O’Neil’s squad in? As far as injuries go, they are faring pretty well.
First to left back Rayan Ait-Nouri who had to come off after 66 minutes and was replaced by Hugu Bueno. Gary O’Neil was able to deliver some good news about the Algerian international, saying: “Rayan was just sort of muscle fatigue really. I don’t expect him to have any problems that last until next weekend. He will probably just need a few days to recover.”
Ait-Nouri has started four out of five of Wolves Premier League games and generally done well having found it hard to break into the team under Julen Lopetegui last season. So, the good news on his injury means he’s likely to start at Luton with Hugo Bueno providing cover from the bench.
The only other player on the injury list is Joe Hodge, the Republic of Ireland under-21 captain who suffered a hamstring injury in the Carabao Cup win at home to Blackpool three weeks ago. That injury looked serious when Hodge pulled up in the second half clutching the back of his leg and had to be helped off.
However, the problem was not as serious as first feared and O’Neil was able to deliver more good news about the midfielder in his post-match press conference on Saturday. The manager said: “Joe Hodge (is) back on the grass running and should be back with the group at some point next week.”
As for a likely comeback date. Hodge’s recovery offers hope that he could feature in the Carabao Cup third round tie at Ipswich Town on September 26 when O’Neil is likely to make changes from his Premier League side.
Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde started in midfield against Liverpool on Saturday so the Ipswich game could mean an opportunity for Boubacar Traore, new signing Tommy Doyle and potentially Hodge.
Santiago Bueno wasn’t in the squad on Saturday but that was hardly surprising considering O’Neil has had so little time to work with the centre half since he was signed from Girona on August 31. Bueno was called up for international duty by Uruguay and so O’Neil only had a day to work with him on his return. He’s likely to feature in the squad for the Luton game.
Sasa Kalajdzic was an unused substitute on Saturday but the striker continues to make progress after nearly a year out with an ACL injury. The Austrian was able to make his return to action in pre-season and O’Neil has used him off the bench in the Premier League as well as starting with him in the Blackpool game.
O’Neil said in his press conference last week that although Kalajdzic might not be quite ready for a full 90 minutes, he continues to make good progress.
