Wayne Hennessy fired up for a summer slog

Wayne Hennessey is relishing the "fresh start" under new manager Stale Solbakken as he toils through the summer to overcome serious injury.

The crocked keeper will miss the start of Solbakken's reign as he continues his recovery from cruciate knee surgery, but that hasn't dampened his appetite for a full role in the new era.

The Welsh international could well have been one of the prime targets to be cherry-picked by Premier League clubs without this lengthy spell on the sidelines.

But Wolves will be into the thick of their Championship programme by the time Hennessey is fit again and he said: "I haven't had a chance to speak to Stale yet.

"We had one good meeting with all of the players there after the end of the season and we are all excited now to see what he has planned for us when we come back.

"It was a bit of a strange one because not a lot of us had heard of him before but, hopefully, he will bring a bit of freshness to the camp and we can crack on with the Championship.

"It's a great challenge for me to get back and to see how long it will take. But for the lads, they will have a nice period off and they will come back fighting to hopefully get us straight up and back into the Premier League.

"I'm sure Stale won't have seen all the goalkeepers here play and I'm sure there will be good competition for places."

Hennessey is also waiting to make contact with Kevin Foley following the defender's distraught exit from the Irish squad for the Euros.

The popular Foley claimed to have been "betrayed" by coach Giovanni Trapattoni and left telling team mates he wouldn't play for the Republic again while the Italian was in charge.

"I feel devastated for Kevin. But he will come back stronger. He's a great lad with a great attitude. He will always have a good laugh when the time is right and he's just a great professional all round," said Hennessey.