Wolves have finally been handed some positive news on the injury front, as Gary O’Neil addressed the media ahead of the Old Gold’s clash with Bournemouth on Wednesday night.
Wolves will hope to end their unfortunate dip in form tomorrow evening, as Gary O’Neil prepares to face the club that fired him, welcoming Bournemouth to Molineux.
The Old Gold walked away from the Vitality as late winners back in October, with a repeat of the fixture much-needed as the Midlands club are now five Premier League games without victory.
READ MORE: Chris Sutton gives honest Wolves v Bournemouth prediction
The single reason behind Wolves’ dip in form is their current injury crisis, with a host of first-team players absent concurrently, leaving O’Neil with little room to cover for those missing.
Fortunately, ahead of the fixture against Bournemouth, the boss has provided an encouraging update on the injury front.
Latest Wolves injury news ahead of Bournemouth clash
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, O’Neil confirmed that Rayan Ait-Nouri, Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina will be fit to start against the Cherries, as relayed by The Athletic.
“Rayan will be fit to start, if we deem that to be the right way to go.
“Pablo had had a tight groin off the back of Nottingham Forest and we felt that three starts in a week would be tricky for him, but he should be available to start the next two if we choose to do that.
“Mario is available to play so we are in a better spot. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to have loads more available to start but it is moving in the right direction.”
Adding to the three players that are in with a chance of starting, the boss provided an even brighter update on the status of Matheus Cunha, Nelson Semedo and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
“I wouldn’t declare them fit yet, but some are still having tests that may give them an opportunity to be involved.
“Nelson’s looking better, which is good, Matheus Cunha is doing all he can to be involved, Bellegarde had a good week and is doing much, much better.
“We’re going to look at them again tomorrow because we have all day tomorrow to make sure that people are in good shape.”
A positive injury update has been long overdue for Wolves
Wolves have struggled considerably in recent weeks due to the lack of depth in their squad, as seen against Arsenal where O’Neil was forced to experiment with a number of his first-teamers in different positions.
Defensive midfielder Joao Gomes was started on the wing, as well as eventually seeing Lemina come into play as a striker, in what was a fascinating display from the Gabon international.
Against Bournemouth, Wolves will now certainly feel more confident in having their squad replenished to some extent, with the players back in contention giving the Old Gold a boost in quality.
It will be interesting to see how O’Neil lines up against his former club, with the squad set to return to a more familiar formation than the XI we saw against the Gunners.