Wolves clash against Midlands rivals Aston Villa this evening while Gary O’Neil has dropped an encouraging update on one of his players.
Following the international break, Wolves return to action with a bang, travelling to Midlands rivals Aston Villa in the Premier League this evening.
With both sides sharing ambitions of finishing in Europe at the end of the season, it’s set to be a fascinating contest to decide which club will gain momentum heading into the final stretch.
Before the break in play, Wolves secured a 2-1 victory over Fulham, as suffering injuries to key players took the shine off an important win.
After overcoming adversity in recent weeks and fielding an attack depleted of quality and numbers, Gary O’Neil is starting to get some of his crucial players back from injury, as the 40-year-old dropped an encouraging update on striker Matheus Cunha.
Gary O’Neil says Wolves striker Matheus Cunha is back
Wolves have been without top scorer Cunha since the 2-0 defeat to Brentford in February, withdrawing from that game with what was believed to be a significant hamstring injury at the time.
The Brazilian was in sensational form before that blow, scoring four and assisting three in his previous six outings.
With Jean Ricner-Bellegarde, Pedro Neto and Hwang Hee-Chan also facing injuries during the seven weeks without Cunha, O’Neil has been forced into using Nathan Fraser as a lone striker.
The 19-year-old academy graduate struggled to lead the line on his last outing against Coventry, a defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals, as Fraser was bullied physically.
A lack of options and a squad decimated by injuries has seriously tested O’Neil, but he revealed that Cunha is back from injury and could play a part against Aston Villa.
“Matheus Cunha will play some football for us this week,” O’Neil told the Express & Star.
“He’s back, he’s fine and has worked his socks off and shaved an enormous amount of time off the medical diagnosis of what he had.
“He’s done unbelievably well and now the decision for me is when and how long he plays. He is training, sprinting and has done everything you can do to test the hamstring, apart from being put into a Premier League game.
“It’s now on me to decide if that’s from the start tomorrow, the bench tomorrow or from the start on Tuesday. We’re trying to get it right for him as he’s massively important to us for tomorrow’s game, but also the nine after that.”
Should Matheus Cunha start v Aston Villa?
Following his return from injury, O’Neil will be tempted to throw his “phenomenal” striker back into the starting XI.
But realistically, the 24-year-old will probably start on the bench with Fraser continuing to lead the line.
That won’t be the popular option among most Wolves supporters, however, after a seven-week layoff through injury, Cunha needs to be eased back into the action.
Of course, if it is going wrong on the pitch and O’Neil needs an injection of class up top, he’s likely to bring his Brazilian sharpshooter off the bench.
Nonetheless, it’s a huge positive to see his star striker return for a pivotal run-in that will decide their fate.