What Stephen Warnock said about Wolves in bold pre-season prediction has since proven to be true

Wolves are currently struggling at the bottom of the Premier League table after collecting just six points from a possible 33 available.

The Old Gold did secure their first victory before the international break – a 2-0 win over Southampton – but there is still a lot Gary O’Neil must do to convince the Wolves fanbase.

Regardless of the difficult fixtures they’ve faced or the injuries they’ve had to deal with, Wolves have endured a disastrous opening three months of the campaign.

Their struggles are perhaps a result of failing to replace their most important players, as Pedro Neto was sold to Chelsea for £54 million and Max Kilman left for West Ham without anyone joining in his place.

Wolves have therefore struggled defensively, both in terms of a shortage in numbers and the fact they’ve conceded 27 goals in 11 matches.

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Stephen Warnock predicted Wolves to battle relegation – he was right

Although Wolves sold some of their most valuable players, they still managed to keep hold of Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes – three stars who were linked with moves out of Molineux.

Despite this, Stephen Warnock was one of few pundits who forecasted Wolves to struggle in the Premier League, predicting them to be relegated to the Championship.

After seeing Sue Smith opt for Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton to go down, Warnock said: “I’ve gone for the same. My only difference was, I asked for a little bit of a different graphic on this but they couldn’t do it.

“I’d have gone Southampton or Wolves. I just think Gary O’Neil last season struggled with a squad. He’s had a few taken away from him again. Not really invested too well in what they’ve done. If any team out of the three coming up was to stay up, I think it would be Southampton to survive.”

Warnock felt that Wolves didn’t do enough in the transfer market to warrant finishing higher in the division, and it’s become evident where the Wanderers must strengthen to survive.

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Wolves transfer priorities have become clear

Wolves arguably have the best attacks in the bottom half of the Premier League, boasting the likes of Cunha, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Pablo Sarabia leading the line.

But it’s in defence where they’ve really struggled and not replacing their captain Kilman has come back to bite them.

In October, we exclusively revealed that Wolves were looking at three centre-backs ahead of January, including Dan Ballard, Christopher Wooh and Anel Ahmedhodzic.

It remains to be seen whether they test the waters with a bid for any of the above trio, although we do know that Wolves have a limited transfer budget to spend and that means their options might be restricted.

That said, for the Wanderers to survive in the Premier League this term, they’ll need to sign a central defender in January, especially because they only have Craig Dawson, Toti Gomes and Santi Bueno as options.