Wolves manager Gary O’Neil will face his former club Bournemouth for the second time this season tonight, with Old Gold urged to unleash some ‘frustration’ on the Cherries.
Gary O’Neil has the opportunity to do the double over the club that shockingly sacked him last summer, as Wolves welcome Bournemouth to Molineux this evening.
The Old Gold claimed three points at the Vitality back in October, when Sasa Kalajdzic’s late winner made the boss’ return to the south coast a memorable one.
This evening, the Midlands club will enter the fixture hoping to end their five-game streak without a win in the Premier League, a dip in form that has come as a result of the club’s lack of squad depth.
Injuries to key players have plagued O’Neil’s side of late however, the boss was handed a long overdue positive update on the injury front ahead of tonight’s duel.
READ MORE: Wolves injury update ahead of Bournemouth
Despite Wolves’ drop in form, it would be difficult to say that there’s been a drop in desire in performance, with the majority of players digging deep to cover for the lack of rotation available.
O’Neil has defied the odds many times before this season, with journalist Matt Maher now backing the Old Gold to do the same this evening against the Cherries.
Wolves could unleash some ‘frustration’ against Bournemouth
Speaking with Express and Star journalist Nathan Judah, Maher shared his thoughts on the game and backed Wolves to secure three points.
“I think Wolves might win this. I think there’ll be goals, I do think Wolves have played pretty well considering they’ve not had any strikers in recent weeks.
“They’ll have a bit more firepower, Bournemouth are a good side, I can see them scoring, but I do think Wolves at home, there’s going to be players that have been champing at the bit to get out there.
“There’s perhaps a bit of frustration to be taken out on the opposition so I fancy Wolves in this one.”
Wolves will fancy their chances against Bournemouth
For all of the highs Wolves have experienced throughout the 2023/24 campaign, it would be a shame to see the season merely fizz out and for the current run of form to continue.
Against Bournemouth, O’Neil’s side can turn things around, with Maher’s comments on ‘frustration’ an interesting factor to spur the hosts on to get the victory.
Countless times this campaign, Wolves have been left short due to their lack of depth, causing dissatisfaction for the manager and the players, who have had to step up to drag the side through certain fixtures.
After the impressive display the Old Gold put in against Arsenal on Saturday, with a largely weakened squad, the hosts will be geared up to apply the pressure to the Cherries tonight, in what will be an interesting contest to see unfold.
Andoni Iraola’s side can’t be underestimated, however, given that Wolves have already got the better of them earlier this season, there will be some inspiration to kickstart their approach to the run-in this evening.