Gary O’Neil admits Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is ‘unlikely’ to play the entirety of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United but the Wolves midfielder could still make his return from suspension.
After a stand-out display on his Wolves debut against Liverpool, the Molineux matchgoers have had to be patient with their £13 million summer signing since then.
A red card – and subsequent three man ban – picked up for a sending off against Luton Town have limited his impact thus far. Newcastle’s Saturday evening trip to the Black Country, however, could see Jean-Ricner Bellegarde make his return to O’Neil’s side, even if the former Strasbourg ace may be hard pushed featuring from the first minute to the last.
Wolves could welcome Jean Bellegarde back
“Jean Bellegarde’s doing well. We’ll have to see how he is tomorrow (Saturday) morning,” O’Neil tells the Wolverhampton Wanderers website. “But hopefully he can be involved.
“He hasn’t had a full week’s training, so he’s unlikely to do all 90.”
Bellegarde’s physicality and ball-carrying prowess could come in very handy against an athletic, all-action Newcastle midfield. Especially if Sandro Tonali is permitted to feature. Eddie Howe confirmed at his own press conference that the Italian could be included this weekend. A ten-month ban for breaching betting rules is yet to be ratified.
Newcastle will, however, be without a string of other first-team stars. Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy have joined Harvey Barnes and co on the treatment table.
Wolves, in contrast, could also welcome Nelson Semedo and Mario Lemina back. The latter’s partnership with Bellegarde potentially laying the foundations for a win which would lift O’Neil’s side to within two points of Newcastle in the top half.
Wolves’ squad in far better nick
“Obviously, (having Semedo and Lemina back) is big,” adds the former Bournemouth boss. “They’ve been very good this year, the pair of them. So it’s good to have them both back. The rest of the boys who went down to Bournemouth did incredibly well.
“The group’s in a good place. Really big test tomorrow, of course, Newcastle are one of the toughest tests in the league at the moment, arguably the toughest the way they’re going, with the energy they have and some of the results they’ve had. We’ll need to be at our very best.”