Wolves may have lost their opening game of the season against Manchester United – but Gary O’Neil will have been delighted with the level of performance from his players.
Wanderers were beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford, with Raphael Varane’s header the difference between the two teams.
But Wolves did not deserve to lose at all.
United were all over the place from start to finish, and only came through thanks to some wayward finishing from the visitors.
Wolves also should have had a penalty right at the death after the challenge by Andre Onana on Sasa Kalajdzic.
Given the need for goals, it’s possible that O’Neil will now be considering handing starts to two current fringe players on Saturday against Brighton.
Hwang Hee-chan and Fabio Silva will tempt Gary O’Neil against Brighton
Against United, O’Neil threw on both Hwang Hee-chan and Fabio Silva in the late stages of the game.
It was a shame to see Matheus Cunha go off after he had been a complete menace.
But O’Neil said afterwards that he was never going to last a full game, having been nursing a knock in the days leading up to the game.
But both Hwang and Silva both looked really sharp when they came on.
Silva had a couple of efforts on goal, and Hwang also went close a few times.
Surely, they are both now in the manager’s thinking for the game with Brighton at Molineux on Saturday.
Pablo Sarabia’s place could be in jeopardy
Anyone getting dropped after that team performance against United would have reason to feel hard done by.
But if there is one player who could be vulnerable, it’s Pablo Sarabia.
He was not bad on Monday by any means.
But the Spaniard didn’t quite impact the game as heavily as some of the other attacking players.
But he did work his socks off, which might save him from demotion to the bench by O’Neil.
If O’Neil was thinking about making a change though, it would surely be to take Sarabia out and put either Hwang or Silva in.
Hwang, 27, has looked razor sharp in recent weeks and is probably most likely to come in, out of him and Silva.
But then, O’Neil has said he plans to have Silva playing a big part for him this season.
Perhaps a front line of Hwang left, Pedro Neto right and Cunha central could be an option.
Or maybe, as many Wolves fans have been yearning for, a front two of Silva and Cunha, with Neto left and Matheus Nunes right in a more tradition 4-4-2.