Wolves fell to a 2-0 defeat against Brighton on Saturday, and Lee Naylor has moved to defend a player who has come in for quite a bit of criticism.
Wanderers lost to the Seagulls after goals by Danny Welbeck and Brajan Gruda.
Welbeck scored from the penalty spot in the first half, after seeing a goal ruled out by VAR for offside against Yankuba Minteh.
Matheus Cunha had brought Mats Wieffer down in the area and the referee had no choice but to award a spot-kick.
Wolves had a go in the second half, with Vitor Pereira making a quadruple change midway through.
But Wolves just lacked that quality in the final third, and Marshall Munetsi is a player who has come in for criticism for not having an impact.
Some fans felt Munetsi did not offer much against Brighton, and others felt he should have been brought off as part of that quadruple substitution.
But Lee Naylor has defended the Zimbabwe international.
Lee Naylor declares Marshall Munetsi Wolves’ unsung hero after Brighton defeat
Munetsi is clearly a favourite of Pereira’s.
Since he signed from Reims, the Portuguese has started Munetsi in all but one Premier League game he’s been available for.
Pereira recently suggested Munetsi’s efforts were a reason for Jorgen Strand Larsen’s improvements, so the midfielder’s contributions are certainly not lost on the head coach.
But Munetsi undoubtedly divides opinion within the fan base.
For Naylor, though, it’s clear what he brings to the table.
He said: “I can understand a bit of frustration. But one thing I won’t have is, Munetsi has been out there for how long now? He’s put in some unbelievable performances. In terms of, what he does as a footballer, what he gives the team, he’s honestly…
“He’s one of these players, he’s like an unsung hero, for me. Where they’re just, they do things in football that are not always fancy. They’re not always going to be the best. But what they give is 100%, every single week.”
Munetsi needs to play in midfield for his value to become clear
The Munetsi experiment is something that a lot of people feel is not working.
Essentially, because Munetsi doesn’t score goals or make assists, he is criticised.
At the moment, he is performing a role that he himself probably never expected to play.
Ultimately, Wolves have been pretty successful over the past couple of months and Munetsi has been heavily involved.
Arguably he would be much more effective playing in midfield. But, of course, this is a very strong area of the team for Wolves with Joao Gomes and Andre.
So next season, it may well be a case of him playing second fiddle to the Brazilians.
But Munetsi’s engine is hugely impressive, and he definitely will be of use to Wolves going forward.