Gary O’Neil was full of praise for Wolves’ Algerian sensation Rayan Ait-Nouri who led the side to a 2-1 victory over Fulham.
With Wolves amidst an injury crisis, fans at Molineux were looking for a man to step up. Pedro Neto and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde were both forced off in the first half putting the home crowd in real dismay.
However, upstepped Ait-Nouri who slammed home an opener early in the second half as the hosts went on to secure all three points.
The victory could come to be vital come the end of the season in the race for Europe. It will also give the team a big boost in confidence ahead of their FA Cup quarter-final against Coventry.
After the game, O’Neil came out and praised the wing-back who inspired Wolves to the victory.
Rayan Ait-Nouri is ‘incredible’
The wingback has really kicked on this season and his ability was one full show against Fulham.
In the first half, the Algerian produced a sensational bit of skill to beat to of the visitor’s men on the counter. Then his opener really helped put the hosts in charge, taking advantage of their good start to the second half.
After the game, O’Neil told Wolves: “I’m enjoying working with Rayan, I think he’s an incredible talent, a great guy and he brings a real enthusiasm and life to the place. We can use him anywhere so, unfortunately, at the moment we have to because we don’t have many others.
“But he is talented enough when we roll him in and play him in midfield a few times and we played him as a right 10 in the second half today, and he’s come on loads – his work rate and everything about him.
“But I could mention a load of them – Mario Lemina was excellent, Sa made a couple of massive saves for us, and because of how strong we’ve been defensively this season we’ve not had to rely on him too much, but when we needed him today he pulled off some huge saves. Everybody put in their shift and we get the reward.”
Wolves’ team has serious potential
Each week it seems as if another Wolves player becomes the standout in a victory. Whether it is Joao Gomes against Spurs, Tommy Doyle against Brighton or Ait-Nouri against Fulham, someone is stepping up.
However, the key thing many of these players have is that they are young.
O’Neil must be rubbing his hands together when he looks at the potential this side has. Multiple players in the starting XI have unreal potential. While some of these might inevitably move on, Wolves have a chance to build a great team around someone like Ait-Nouri.
The 22-year-old has really stepped up this season and could arguably be in contention for the Wolves Player of the Season.
Each day that passes, it looks bizarre that former manager Julen Lopetegui wanted to sell the wingback in the summer.