Wolves played out a 1-1 draw with Fulham on Friday night – and it was brilliant to see Raul Jimenez being influential again.
Wanderers were unable to get back to winning ways at Craven Cottage after the shock defeat to Bournemouth.
But it was still a decent result, against a team in-form and full of confidence.
Lopetegui decided to get Jimenez back into his starting XI for Friday night’s game.
The Mexico international had not started since the game in January with Manchester City in which he was hooked at half-time, along with Hwang Hee-chan and Adama Traore.
Lopetegui had played Matheus Cunha up top for the past few games, but the Brazilian had struggled leading the line.
So the manager decided to pair them together against Fulham – and the combination looked good.
It was a huge shame that Cunha sustained the injury he did in the second-half, as he had looked the best he’s been in a Wolves shirt so far.
Part of the season for that was the fact he had Jimenez up there with him.
Jimenez was an excellent focal point and linked up well with the attacking players around him.
And he showed excellent nous on the goal, knocking the ball back down for Pablo Sarabia to score.
It now looks like Cunha could potentially be set for a spell on the sidelines. An update should be coming soon on the Brazilian’s condition.
But Lopetegui will have been greatly encouraged by what he saw from ÂŁ30 million star Jimenez.
Raul Jimenez’s display against Fulham was encouraging as fans await Matheus Cunha update
It was fantastic to see Jimenez putting in a really good performance for Wolves. Undoubtedly, it was the best he’s been for a while.
Hopefully Cunha will not be out for too long. But him going off on a stretcher was not a good sign.
But Lopetegui will be pleased with Jimenez’s showing, and he surely needs to be starting from here on in.
He remains the best natural centre-forward Wolves have.
With someone like Sarabia playing near him, it could be that Wolves do start to become a little more potent in front of goal.