Wolves v Newcastle preview
Multi-lingual Raul Jimenez believes his mastery of different languages is helping on the pitch and in the dressing room as he prepares to take on Newcastle United.
Jimenez says learning Portuguese and English in addition to his native Spanish has aided his journey to Premier League hot-shot.
The Mexican has been in red-hot form, aided by fellow English and Spanish speaker Adama Traore and Portugese duo Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto in recent weeks.
And Jimenez believes his ability to speak to players in their own languages is paying dividends for him and his team-mates on the pitch.
He said: “It is helpful because I spent three years in Portugal.
“So I learned how to speak Portuguese. In school, I learned English so it was good for me to arrive here with a lot of languages.
“I think I can speak most of them but I have to keep improving.
“But I’m good with that, I can understand everything that we speak in the dressing room and on the pitch, so it is good for me to know three languages.”
Nuno’s options up top might not be bountiful but he has got options at the back.
Centre-half Willy Boly is back kicking a ball and upping his return from a broken fibula, but he is still out of contention.
That injury occurred the day before Wolves’ trip to St James’ Park.
Wolves would end that game with a 1-1 draw with Boly’s fellow French speakers Leander Dendoncker and Romain Saiss in a back three.
That has tweaked in recent weeks with experienced centre-half Ryan Bennett and youngster Max Kilman coming into the side.
Dendoncker, Coady and Kilman kept a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Manchester United.
But Nuno is expected to move Saiss back into defence and restore the back three that had built up a partnership before the recent festive fixtures.
Nuno made the tweaks at the back and also pushed Dendoncker and Saiss into midfield positions in an attempt to counter the work-load.
Jonny Castro Otto and Matt Doherty are anticipated to take on their usual wing-back roles as Wolves aim to bounce back from back-to-back league defeats at Liverpool and Watford. And the six-goal Irishman is eager to keep improving.
He said: “Everyone knows I love to go forward. My end product is getting better but defensively I feel I’ve improved as well.
“I’m not standing still. I feel like I’m getting better. But how can I not get better when I have the type of players around me that I have and the manager I have.”
On this day (Jan 3 2003): Bobby Robson’s full-strength Premier League side lost 3-2 to Dave Jones’ mid-table Championship outfit in a game that would ignite Wolves’ season. Paul Ince and Mark Kennedy put Wolves two ahead. But when Jermaine Jenas and Alan Shearer pulled Toon level, it was game on. George Ndah restored the lead in the 50th minute and keeper Matt Murray ensured Wolves held on.
The Key Battle: Newcastle United hope to be able to call upon striker Andy Carroll for this game.The forward is back in training and could make his return to the starting XI. With Wolves still without key aerial presence Willy Boly at the back, Coady and Company will need to step up to deal with the aerial threat that Carroll will pose.
