Wolves are now heading into a worrying period without their talisman Matheus Cunha.
Matheus Cunha got sent off against Bournemouth on Saturday, after he kicked and headbutted Milos Kerkez at the end of extra-time.
Cunha was then unable to take a penalty in the shootout, which was potentially costly as two Wolves players then missed.
But the red card could be even more costly in the context of Wolves’ Premier League season, as Cunha’s suspension will mean he now misses games against Everton, Southampton and West Ham United.
Pereira has a few options to replace Cunha for Wolves.
But there’s one very left-field replacement he might surprise Wolves fans with given some recent comments he made.
Matheus Cunha suspension could open door for Tommy Doyle
There are quite a few ways Vitor Pereira can replace Cunha, who operates mainly from the left these days.
There are like-for-like replacements in the form of Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes, Hwang Hee-chan and Carlos Forbs.
There is also the possibility of pushing Rayan Ait-Nouri further forward.
But something else we could see, although it is perhaps more unlikely, is Tommy Doyle being Cunha’s replacement.
Pereira recently suggested Doyle has the capacity to play as one of the narrow number 10s in Wolves’ team.
He said (via E&S): I spoke with Tommy, in my opinion and his opinion too, he is more an offensive midfielder.
“To play in the positions that are a little bit more higher on the pitch, in the middle of the lines, and we’ve started to work with him in this position.
“He can give us different things. The last pass, he has a strong shot. He can switch play with quality
“I think in this position he can give us something. He can give us some different things.
“He doesn’t have the physicality to play in the middle, fighting for all the balls, running a lot, but he has the quality to help us in the last pass, in the last decision because he has this quality.”
Inside left position may suit Doyle
The likelihood is that Pereira will turn to a more natural replacement for Cunha.
But perhaps Doyle – who has been linked with Sunderland – should not be discounted as Pereira clearly feels he has the quality to offer in the final third.
Cunha often ends up drifting right inside for Wolves from the left side and this may be something Doyle could do, with Ait-Nouri to hold the width and Toti Gomes covering the space behind the Algerian.
Doyle has struggled for minutes this season at Wolves. There was some talk he might have left the club in January, but Wolves decided to keep Doyle in the end, perhaps feeling it would be unwise to let him depart.
Given he’s been training further up the pitch recently, perhaps this could now be his opportunity.
Doyle was dubbed ‘outstanding’ by Mark Kennedy shortly after joining Wolves, and it would be great to see him be the man to step up in this situation.