Wolves hoping duo will make a swift return to action

Gary O’Neil’s side were without Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Joao Gomes for Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

And they suffered more problems at the interval as goalkeeper Sa and star man Neto both had to be withdrawn.

“Jose had a collision and a sore quad, while Pedro felt a tightness in his hamstring,” said O’Neil. “The physio doesn’t think there’s an injury there, but a tightness. With the situation we’re in, to risk leaving Pedro out there would have been a huge risk to take.

“Channy felt tight at half-time on Wednesday but was keen to give it a go and we ended up with him getting an injury.”

When asked more on Sa and Neto, O’Neil added: “I come out here and try to answer the questions, but I haven’t had a massive debrief with the guys. But the noises are we’d expect them both to be fine for next week. But, that can easily change come Monday.”

Despite falling to a convincing defeat, Wolves’ performance was less of a disaster as they conceded three fortunate and avoidable goals.

And O’Neil was pleased with what he saw on Saturday,

“Quite a few things have obviously gone against us in the last few days,” O’Neil said. “I knew it would be a tough test, but I’m really proud of the players.

“There were a couple of errors in the first half that let Newcastle go 2-0 up, but structurally we were the better side and had control of the game and the ball. I’m really proud of the group for what they gave.

“They have big players coming back and a really strong bench but that’s not where we are.

“But in terms of giving everything and trying to play, I’m really proud of what they were able to produce.

“I’m disappointed we gave Newcastle a couple because we had control and they got a counter-attack goal. They also had a big chunk of luck with the first and second goals.

“It’s one of those days, a tough one for us.”