Lage explains why Jimenez is on the bench for Wolves v Villa

The big team news for Wolves against Aston Villa today is Bruno Lage’s decision to leave Raul Jimenez on the bench.

Jimenez has been away on international duty with Mexico and Lage has taken the decision to bench him for the Midlands derby.

That one might have come as a surprise and here is how some Wolves fans reacted to the news.

As per Wolves’ official matchday blog, Lage explained the decision by saying: “This is part of our job. We need to take the best decisions of everyone for this moment.

“The best decision is for Raul to start of the bench. We didn’t have time to do anything.

“In the 14 days some of the players played three games in a row, it’s very hard for us and for the national team, they need to find a balance.

“Also, the players are talking about it, I think we need to find the balance between what is the most important thing, what are the most important games, because there are too many games.

“We, from this side, cannot put the health of the players as risk.”

Lage is clearly concerned about burnout and perhaps he is being more careful with Jimenez as he continues his injury recovery.

It is a big call to leave him out for a Midlands derby and perhaps he will be introduced as a substitute in the second half.

Lage has gone with Adama Traore and Hwang Hee-Chan up front, which is a pacy duo in a 5-3-2 to try and stretch Villa.

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