Wolves will not have Mario Lemina available to face Bournemouth this weekend – and Julen Lopetegui should resist temptation to start Joao Gomes in his place.
Wolves are back at Molineux on Saturday and are looking to make it three wins on the spin in the Premier League.
Julen Lopetegui’s men have enjoyed a brilliant past couple of weeks.
The win over Liverpool was really something. But it was then a question of following that up against Southampton.
Despite going a goal and a man down, Wolves were able to beat the Saints.
The hero of the hour for Wolves was Gomes, who played just shy of half an hour after replacing Matheus Nunes.
Gomes, put in a very tidy display on his debut, and capped it off with a brilliant goal to seal the points.
There has been some early talk about Gomes perhaps replacing the suspended Lemina for the game against Bournemouth.
The Gabon international was controversially sent off by referee Jarred Gillett. He gave him a second yellow card for the apparent aggressive manner in which he came over to him.
Gomes might well be under consideration to start against the Cherries. But Lopetegui would be wise to resist temptation.
Joao Gomes shouldn’t start for Wolves against Bournemouth on Saturday
Gomes is going to become a top player for Wolves in time.
He turned the game for Wanderers against Southampton. But Lopetegui shoud be looking at other options to fill the void left by Lemina.
Prior to Saturday, £15 million signing Gomes hadn’t played any competitive football since November. His fitness surely can’t be at its peak yet.
Also, in starting Gomes against Bournemouth, there is a danger of perhaps putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on the young South American.
He’s just had a fantastic moment against Southampton. Perhaps the best way of managing him is to increase his minutes gradually, rather than throwing him straight in. Doing that would place a lot of expectation on him.
Lopetegui ought to use Joao Moutinho or Pablo Sarabia as an advanced midfielder, with Ruben Neves and Nunes in behind. Or perhaps Nunes could play from the left again, with Neves and Moutinho central.