When it comes to the injury front at Wolverhampton Wanderers, they’ve hardly had luck pouring out of their ears.
Nuno Santo’s final season at Molineux was marred by a number of fitness issues to his best players as Wolves suffered considerably without the likes of Raul Jimenez.
The Mexican was missing from November 2020 onwards after suffering a fractured skull and has only just returned to action.
They are still missing Pedro Neto who suffered a setback in his quest to recover.
Bruno Lage has also tasted similar pills in recent weeks. He was without a number of players in the early weeks of the campaign with Neto sitting on the sidelines alongside Daniel Podence, Yerson Mosquera, Willy Boly and Jonny.
However, in positive news, Podence returned in the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest and he is set to be joined by Boly and Mosquera.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game with Manchester United, Lage said: “Yerson [Mosquera] and Boly started to work with us. That’s the good news. And Daniel [Podence] played 60 minutes on Tuesday night at a good level, scored one goal, so that’s three more top players with us.
“It’s very good to have them back and for them to be on the pitch and everyone to be working hard to be better.”
This is a huge boost for the Old Gold who have been working with an extremely limited squad this season.
Lage admitted before their match with Spurs that they’d been training with just 15 senior players so the returning members will add a great deal to the senior group.
Podence’s goalscoring return in midweek bodes well given that the Molineux outfit are yet to score in the league this term. Mosquera, meanwhile, looks a promising player and will bolster their limited defensive options.
Yet, it’s Boly who will be the biggest boost. The Frenchman has been a rock at the back for Wolves throughout the years and we saw just how big a miss and influence he was last season.
During a three-month layoff due to an ankle problem last term, Wolves played 15 league matches and kept just one clean sheet in that timeframe. Once the defender returned, they didn’t concede over the next 283 minutes of league action.
They had let in 13 goals in their last eight league games without him but conceded only two in their first six matches after he was back.
To see him return to the matchday squad on Sunday, especially against Man United, will be extremely handy. Lage should be elated to see his face once again.
AND in other news, Boly returns, £37k-p/w dud axed in 8 changes: Wolves predicted XI vs Man United…