Wolves are into the hat for the FA Cup fifth-round draw – but yesterday was not a good day for one player.
Wolves ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
After some early intensity from Blackburn, Wolves got a foothold in the game, and scored two quick goals.
Joao Gomes set Wolves on their way, before Matheus Cunha added a second.
That double whammy really knocked the wind out of Blackburn, who had no answer to Wolves’ rock-solid backline in the second-half.
There were plenty of positives on the day, although Hwang suffering another hamstring injury wasn’t good to see.
But it wasn’t such a good day for Tommy Doyle, whose future at Molineux is looking more and more bleak.
Tommy Doyle’s position in the Wolves pecking order is clear
Some expected Doyle to start against Blackburn.
He has not been a regular in the Premier League, and cup competitions often represent chances for fringe players to get minutes under their belt.
But Vitor Pereira went as strong as he could yesterday, and clearly he doesn’t see Doyle in his strongest XI.
And the Wolves manager did something in yesterday’s game that is quite telling of how he sees Doyle.
In the 67th minute, Pereira made a double change, and one player he sent on was new signing Marshall Munetsi.
Munetsi only joined the club on transfer deadline day on Monday, and then only went out to the training pitches on Wednesday.
Despite only being at the club for all of five minutes, he got the nod to come on ahead of Doyle on Sunday against Blackburn.
The other player sent on in that double change was Andre. So two midfielders on, with Doyle left as an unused substitute.
That will have been a real kick in the teeth for Doyle, especially since Wolves were really controlling the game in the second-half, which is something he is all about.
Doyle’s Wolves future is currently looking bleak
The fact that Doyle got no minutes whatsoever against Blackburn is really telling, and strongly suggests he’s not a player Pereira counts on.
Doyle seeing a new signing come on before him will have been very frustrating for him.
And going forward it’s hard to see where his opportunities will come from.
Gomes and Andre have both impressed, and recently Jean-Ricner Bellegarde has done well in the middle. Munetsi has just arrived, and Boubacar Traore has also now returned from injury.
It’s a hard situation for Doyle, who is said to be on Sunderland’s transfer radar at the moment.
As things currently stand, it’d be no surprise if he pushed to leave in the summer.
He could start for plenty of clubs, and he will surely talk to his agent soon about the situation.