Gary O’Neil says he thinks goalkeeper Jose Sa will be fine to play for Wolves against Burnley, despite him going off injured against Arsenal.
The £7 million man went off in the first-half yesterday in the 2-1 defeat to the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.
Sa appeared to be in discomfort after moving across to try and save Martin Odegaard’s shot for the second Arsenal goal. He played on for a bit, but around midway through the half he had to be withdrawn.
Dan Bentley replaced the Portuguese stopper and gave a pretty good account of himself at the Emirates Stadium, making a few saves from shots inside the box from Arsenal players.
It’s a fairly quick turnaround to the next game for Wolves, with Burnley next up on Tuesday at Molineux – and Gary O’Neil gave a positive update on Jose Sa after Saturday’s defeat…
Gary O’Neil says Jose Sa should be fine to face Burnley despite ‘strange’ injury v Arsenal
Sa going off injured at the Emirates was a concerning sight, but it does not appear that the player has sustained any serious damage.
With Burnley looming, O’Neil gave an update on the 30-year-old, saying (Wolves official): “He had some tightness in his back, but he’ll be fine. It was a back spasm and it was strange really as it’s not something he has suffered from before. His foot slipped and he felt something tighten up in his back.
“He was struggling with moving a little bit, struggling to kick, so we could possibly have left him on, but we felt where he was, we didn’t need him taking goal kicks as that could have caused us a problem, so it was better to get him off, get him some treatment and we’ve got a big game on Tuesday and I anticipate he’ll be fine for.”
So far this term, £28,000-a-week man Sa – recently linked with a move to Saudi Arabia – has played every Premier League game for Wolves, with Bentley having featured in the two Carabao Cup matches.
He has been practically ever-present since signing for the club in 2021 as Rui Patricio’s replacement, making 90 appearances across all competitions for the club.
A boost for Wolves
While Bentley played well against Arsenal, it is definitely a boost that Sa hasn’t done anything serious and is set to play against Burnley.
While he does have some rash moments in him, he is comfortably better than Bentley and O’Neil will be relieved he should be able to play on Tuesday.
After two straight defeats for Wolves, this game with Burnley has now become quite a big deal.
Wolves could do with a win to just settle things down a bit, with the gap down to the relegation zone having been cut to eight points after wins for the Clarets and Everton.
If fit to play as expected, Sa will need to be on his game with Burnley having just put five past Sheffield United.