Wolves took a point against Nottingham Forest – and there was another appearance right at the end of the match for Sasa Kalajdzic.
It was a disappointing result and performance, against a side that had been in really poor form in the Premier League of late.
After the narrow 1-0 win over Burnley, against whom Wolves actually weren’t very good, there was an expectation from the fans ahead of the game with Forest.
Supporters were keen to see a really good performance full of intent and invention, after watching a rather cautious display against Burnley.
But Wolves struggled to break Forest down, with Gary O’Neil admitting after the game that his side had ‘a technical breakdown’. His decision not to put on Tommy Doyle at any point was certainly a strange one.
One player he did turn to though was Sasa Kalajdzic, but there was hardly any time for him to make an impact, which has been a recurring theme of late…
Another Wolves cameo for Sasa Kalajdzic
Wolves were really struggling to find a breakthrough yesterday and in the end, the hosts only managed four shots on target.
Hwang Hee-chan has been in such good form this season, but this was one of his worst outings. The South Korean was feeding off scraps for most of the game, and was admittedly pretty well-defended by Forest’s backline.
Despite him being pretty ineffectual, Hwang remained on for the whole game. Perhaps that was understandable though, given how good he’s been, especially at Molineux.
But what wasn’t quite so understandable was Kalajdzic coming on as late as he did.
He was introduced in the 91st minute of the game, replacing the goalscorer Matheus Cunha.
Kalajdzic was able to touch the ball just two times, the first of which was a lay off that went straight out for a throw-in. He did not get any chances (via Sofascore).
He must be frustrated
O’Neil obviously loves Cunha and Hwang, and the duo have been fantastic this season.
But Wolves were clearly struggling to breach Forest’s defence in the second-half and it just felt like something different was needed.
Kalajdzic is the very definition of ‘something different’, especially compared to Cunha and Hwang. The 6ft 7in striker obviously provides a huge aerial threat, so O’Neil could have got him on sooner and instructed his side to start crossing the ball more.
People talk about Fabio Silva not playing at Wolves, but Kalajdzic is very much on the periphery too right now and he surely must be a bit frustrated.
So far this season the £35,000-a-week star has only made one Premier League start, and in the last three games, he’s made just two cameo appearances right at the end. He didn’t even get on against Arsenal, which was another instance of Wolves chasing a goal at the end.
Amazingly, Kalajdzic has only played 157 minutes in the Premier League this season, and 280 in total. This is actually less than youngster Silva, who’s played 262 in the league and 373 in total.
We know that Kalajdzic is fit to play now, after recovering from the serious knee he suffered last season. Maybe he’s not at the level of Hwang and Cunha, but it’s quite surprising to see just how little he has featured in recent weeks. Especially since O’Neil has called him ‘a fantastic finisher’.
With matches now coming thick and fast, maybe Kalajdzic will see a bit more involvement – the Austrian would surely like to think that will be the case.