Craig Dawson has been a tremendous signing for Wolves since arriving at the club in January 2023.
The star came to the club from West Ham United in a deal worth just over £3 million, and he has impressed fans with his consistency and authority at the back.
Dawson has shown himself to be a great no-frills defender, and someone who is a calming presence in the backline.
He and Mario Lemina were hugely influential additions when they came in, and had it not been for them, then Wolves may not have survived relegation in the 2022/23 season.
Last term Dawson was solid again, but towards the end, he suffered a groin injury for which he required surgery.
Dawson has been speaking about that injury recently, and made one admission that doesn’t reflect very well on the club.
Craig Dawson says he struggled to get out of bed with groin injury
Wolves’ 2023/24 season really derailed as a result of injuries to key players.
Gary O’Neil’s first-choice front three of Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto all succumbed to hamstring injuries, and all momentum was halted.
But Dawson was also sidelined, and was unable to feature in any of Wolves’ last 11 games. He was on the bench for two of those games in the middle of that run, but didn’t get onto the pitch.
Dawson has revealed that the injury prevented him from even getting out of bed at times.
He told the Wolves official website: “It was really tough. My first (major) injury, first operation and first rehab and it was tough.
“There were days when you needed good people around you because it was really tough. There were days when my wife was pulling me out of bed because I literally couldn’t move. Thankful for having good people around me.”
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Dawson comments make Wolves decision look even worse
It’s interesting to hear Dawson talk about his injury and recovery and one cannot help but think that this makes Wolves’ decision not to sign a centre-back even worse.
Wolves came into the new season with four centre-back options.
Obviously, no one could have accounted for Mosquera picking up a season-ending injury just a couple of months into the new campaign.
But Wolves knew that Dawson was fragile, and he has done extremely well so far to have played as much as he has.
Dawson is 34, and given the uncertainty around his condition in the summer, the club really should have brought someone in.
Wolves will prioritise a new centre-back in January, and hopefully, Dawson will have the chance to be rotated a bit more in the second half of the season without Wolves being affected too much.