Bruno Lage praises Ruben Neves for taking on his Wolves challenge

Earlier this season Lage publicly challenged Neves to find his best form for both his personal development and that of the club’s, as well as challenging more regularly for the Portuguese national side.

Neves has since been excellent in the Premier League and the head coach believes his star midfielder has risen to the challenge following his 200th game in a Wolves shirt.

“He took the challenge and understood what it’s about,” Lage said.

“We cannot waste our time. They have 10 or 12 years in their careers and they cannot waste their time and talent.

“They need to do their best in the next training and the next match.

“200 games is very important in a career for a player like Ruben. We conquer everything with solid improvement and hard training and that’s why it’s so important they have that mentality.

“I’ve spoken in the last couple weeks about character because it’s about that and how far we want to go with our careers. I want to improve myself and my team.”

Neves arrived from Porto as a 20-year-old in 2017 and was forced to quickly grow up in a new country and culture.

And Lage is pleased to see how much he has developed.

He added: “When you are in the youth of Porto, Sporting or Benfica, players at 15 or 16 already have a massive experience and at that age they need to grow up as soon as possible.

“The kids move away from home at 12 or 13 and it’s good to be more adult.

“When you look at Ruben he had a big chance to start very young at Porto and now at 24 he already has 200 games with Wolves. He has massive experience.

“I am happy with him because he deserves it and he is working hard. He did very good things in the past and he needs to continue to show it to have the career he wants and deserves.”