Gary O’Neil reserved praise for defender Santiago Bueno, after he came on for the injured Craig Dawson against Chelsea today.
Wolves ran out 2-1 winners at Molineux and it was a deserved victory for the hosts, who battled hard and capitalised on poor defending and wastefulness from the visitors.
The superb Mario Lemina opened the scoring for Wolves with a header from a Pablo Sarabia corner, and Matt Doherty grabbed his first Premier League goal since returning to Molineux for a second spell.
Chelsea pulled one back late on through Christopher Nkunku, but Wolves held out for all three points.
Santiago Bueno played his part for Wolves – and the Uruguay international came in for praise from Gary O’Neil after the game…
Gary O’Neil praises Santiago Bueno following his cameo performance for Wolves against Chelsea
Dawson was forced off against Chelsea today after making a block on a shot by Raheem Sterling.
O’Neil has since said that Dawson’s injury is not serious and that it was a ‘deep cut’. Apparently, he could be in contention to play against Brentford.
Bueno was the man to replace Dawson, and the £8.5 million signing from Girona enjoyed a decent cameo overall.
Speaking after the game, Dawson heaped praise on the centre-half (Wolves official): “Big shout for Santi. He’s improved so much since he arrived, around English football, understanding it, and he looked at home in the middle of the defence. Hopefully Daws will be fine, but Santi did really well when he came on.
“Santi has worked his socks off to make sure he’s ready for when he’s needed, and I thought all the subs had an incredible impact.”
Bueno’s time will come
It was good to see Bueno get the nod today to replace Dawson, and it did show that O’Neil has faith in him to come in and do a job.
He is having to be very patient at the moment, but his time will come at Molineux, and it’s important for him to be ready when the opportunity comes.
Bueno arrived at Wolves with a decent reputation. Apparently, Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa rates him extremely highly.
For the moment, O’Neil likes his back three of Dawson, captain Max Kilman and Toti Gomes, who has very much earned his place after warming the bench for a while at Molineux.
Hopefully, Bueno can shine when he does eventually get a run in the team.