Express & Star

Wolves' forgotten defender could be given imminent first team chance

Gary O'Neil is hoping to give Yerson Mosquera a chance in the Wolves first team before the end of the month.

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Tawanda Chirewa, Matheus Cunha, Nathan Fraser, Toti Gomes, Hugo Bueno and Yerson Mosquera (Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images).

The centre-back has been an unused substitute in the last two fixtures after returning from his loan spell at FC Cincinnati, while a number of Championship clubs want him on loan for the rest of the campaign.

Wolves are yet to make a decision on Mosquera's future this month and O'Neil is eager to see him play before the window closes.

The head coach said: "He's a good guy, full of energy. He trains in the freezing cold in a t-shirt!

"He's quick, physically very, very good and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does.

"You can see him in training but it's always limited. You don't really get to see anybody going flat-out very often.

"I'm hoping the opportunity arises for him to have a look. We would have played a game in Abu Dhabi if we didn't have the cup game, so we would have got a good look at him for a substantial amount of time, but that wasn't to be.

"Hopefully the opportunity arises for him in the next few weeks and I can have a look at him in real football, when the chips are down and it means something, and see how he does.

"But so far I've really like him. The opportunities are there because we are quite light numbers-wise at this moment. Hopefully he does well."

Mosquera can look up to team-mate Toti Gomes, who returned to Wolves from a loan spell at Grasshoppers and has now established himself as a first team regular.

Although O'Neil is keen to ease the pressure on Mosquera, he does say the 22-year-old possesses the qualities he wants in his defenders.

"Without having seen loads of him, he has a lot of attributes that I really like in a centre-back," O'Neil added.

"He's able to hold a very high line because of how quick he is. He's very, very aggressive. There are some similarities with Toti.

"But I'm conscious he hasn't been with us long, so a lot of the work the others have had, he hasn't had.

"It would probably be unfair to judge him fully against the others at this moment, but the more time he spends with us and the more work he manages to do, I'm sure he'll get it.

"Lets see how the next few weeks unfold. At this moment, he's an important part of the the matchday squad, so I don't foresee him leaving any time soon."