Wolves are hoping to build on their win over Southampton against Fulham this weekend.
Gary O’Neil managed to get his first Premier League victory of the season last time out and fans are now expecting Wolves to move up the table.
Some fans still want O’Neil sacked, feeling the win over Southampton merely papers over the cracks.
Certainly, O’Neil will be right back under pressure if he loses against Fulham.
The Wolves manager has a couple of concerns heading into the game. Santiago Bueno has withdrawn from the Uruguay squad and looks to be an early doubt, while Craig Dawson was also said to be struggling.
One man who definitely won’t be featuring though is Boubacar Traore, with O’Neil providing a fresh update on the midfielder.
Boubacar Traore on course to return at Christmas for Wolves
Traore has made just one appearance so far this season for Wolves, which came against Burnley in the Carabao Cup.
He got injured midway through that game, and the injury turned out to be fairly serious.
Traore sustained damage to his meniscus and required surgery. Wolves had actually lined Traore up for a loan move to Feyenoord, but the injury scuppered those plans.
The E&S have published some quotes this morning from O’Neil regarding a couple of injured players.
O’Neil has said Sasa Kalajdzic should rejoin his teammates in a few weeks, and it looks as though Traore will be back around a similar time.
He said: “He’s doing well and back on the grass and has a little bit more to do.
“He’s only lightly on the grass at this moment but it’s still looking like the same sort of period that we spoke about.”
Traore will surely seal January loan move after returning from injury
It’s difficult to see Wolves getting to the end of January and Traore still being in the squad.
The plan was to send him out on loan to Feyenoord before that untimely injury against Burnley, and the club will surely look to go down the same route when the next window opens.
| Traore in 2022/23 for Wolves | Traore in 2023/24 for Wolves | Traore in 2024/25 for Wolves (so far) |
| Appearances – 15 | Appearances – 27 | Appearances – 1 |
| Minutes played – 740 | Minutes played – 997 | Minutes played – 45 |
At the moment, competition for places in midfield is very tough with Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, Andre and Tommy Doyle all vying for minutes.
£55,000-a-week ace Traore needs to get back playing again after his injury and he just won’t do that by staying at Molineux for the second half of the season.
Hopefully, he will move to a club that will be prepared to play him regularly. There’s no reason why he can’t return next summer ready to fight to become a starter in 2025/26.