Express & Star

Derby too close to call says ex Wolves and Aston Villa man Tony Daley

Former Wolves and Villa man Tony Daley believes Saturday’s big West Midlands derby is ‘too close to call’.

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Wolves and Villa will meet in the second tier of English football for just the third time

Second-placed Wolves host resurgent Villa who arrive at Molineux on the back of four straight victories.

A fifth in a row would lift Steve Bruce’s team to within a point of Nuno Espirito Santo’s high-flying Wolves.

Former England winger Daley came through the youth ranks at Villa and left Molineux in the summer after 10 years at Wolves as a fitness and sports science specialist.

Daley, who believes Wolves are a club going places under Nuno, said: “It’s a hard one to call.

“They’re two teams in form. Villa made a bad start but are unbeaten in eight games now and won their last four. They’re in awesome form.

“Wolves are flying high, second in the league.

“Both have spent a lot of money so there’s a lot of expectation at both clubs as well.

“If Wolves had the start Villa had, they’d have been under pressure as well.

“It’ll be a great game, I’m going to it so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s too close to call.”

Nuno has a number of selection dilemmas with Conor Coady free from suspension and Willy Boly and Barry Douglas both thought to be available again.

One of Diogo Jota, Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa and Leo Bonatini also looks to set to miss out on what looks set to be a sell-out.

Douglas’s replacement for the win at Burton before the international break was Ruben Vinagre, who scored in a 4-0 victory.

Scottish wing-back Douglas said Wolves’ deep strength in depth mean that no one in the squad had a comfort zone.

“It’s important to have that squad depth,” he said.

“There’s no comfort zone so you know you need to keep performing.”

Only a couple of hundred tickets remain for Wolves’ trip to face QPR on Saturday, November 28.