Wolves defender Dion Sanderson has been ‘unfortunate’ not to get a chance at Molineux, according to John Ruddy.
The central defender is spending the season on loan at Birmingham City and hopeful of making a good impression at St Andrew’s.
Sanderson spent the first half of last season with the Championship, before being recalled by Wolves in January.
He then went to QPR for the second half.
Sanderson has yet to make his Premier League debut for Wolves.
He has featured for the first-team before in an EFL Cup game against Aston Villa in the 2019/20 season.
But he’s not featured in the top-flight yet. Many expected him to do so when he was recalled last season when Romain Saiss was at AFCON.
But Bruno Lage instead turned to Toti Gomes, who was also recalled from his loan spell at Grasshoppers.
Sanderson is rated highly at Wolves. But former Molineux stopper Ruddy, now of Birmingham, reckons he’s been unlucky.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “Dion’s going to be the only one that trips himself up. He’s a good lad, keen to learn, keen to listen, and I have hope he will go on and have a very successful season.
“From within at Wolves, Dion was probably always seen as unfortunate not to get the game time, but with the defensive record and the way they played it was very difficult for him. When he did come in, in first team training and playing in pre-season games or cup games, he acquitted himself very well and that led to the loan moves that he’s had.
“This season is a big one for him, and he knows that. His standards have got to be consistent across the board. If he can add consistency to his performances, it will stand him in good stead going forward.”
A big season for Sanderson as John Ruddy delivers verdict on Wolves centre-back
Wolves’ defence has been pretty solid over the past few years.
The likes of Conor Coady, Willy Boly, Romain Saiss and Maximilian Kilman have all been really good and consistent for the club.
And then of course last season, Toti emerged as another option for Wanderers.
That might have been a kick in the teeth for Sanderson, who had really excelled at Birmingham.
This is now a big season for the 22-year-old. Come the end, he will hopefully have played regularly and shown that he can become a genuine first-team option at Molineux.
Boly will be out of contract next summer, so Wolves will be on the lookout for a long-term replacement.