Wolves boss Gary O'Neil offers support to Mario Lemina following father's passing
Gary O'Neil has thrown his full support behind Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina, in the wake of the club's 3-0 win over Everton.
The Gabon international missed the clash at Molineux after his father sadly passed away, following two months in hospital.
Max Kilman and Matheus Cunha paid tribute by holding up Lemina's shirt after they scored, while the home fans chanted the midfielder's name throughout the game.
O'Neil said: "We're all enjoying today in the changing room and on the pitch at the end, but when I'm asked about Mario it gives me a real sense of reality. We're all here smiling and Mario's going through a really tough time.
"Our thoughts are with him. As soon as we came in, he was in the first thing we spoke about.
"He's incredibly important to the team on the pitch, but he's also incredibly important to the group and what we are. He has huge respect from the group for what he does and there's no way we'd be anywhere near 28 points without him.
"I just hope him and his family are doing as well as they possibly can at this time. I've spoken to him a little bit in the last couple of days and I'm 100 per cent serious when I say he has as long as he needs to get ready to come back and help us.
"Until that time, he has the full support of me, the players and the football club. I hope him and his family can find some sort of peace over the next few days."
Despite the squad suffering from Lemina's absence, they put in a magnificent display to control the game and comfortably beat the Toffees.
"The first thing I thought of when I knew we wouldn't have Mario is that I was really sad for him," O'Neil added.
"Then I looked at picking the team and you realise what you're missing. The lads stepped up and so did Tommy Doyle.
"That's a good Everton side and we were fully dominant.
"It's my favourite performance so far and as close to complete as we've had.
"There's still obvious room for improvement, but it was very, very good.
"Especially for it to come off the back of a real tough week with three games in six days, I'm delighted with the level the lads managed to reach."
