The old gold are without a goal in two matches, which has proved costly with two defeats following, but they’re back on home soil on Saturday, and Jimenez is hungry to be back in the goals. The Mexican, back from suspension and sporting new protective head gear, is approaching the end of his comeback season and is eyeing qualification for European football to cap his return to action.
On being involved and improving
“It has been wonderful to be back after a long wait. We have been doing good things, not just me, my teammates, all the club and staff. We were doing good things, we have things to improve, but we are in a good way.
“I feel good. I know I can give more to the team. I know I haven’t been scoring too much this season, but I know it’s there, so it’s just a matter of time to come out again. Patience, I can never lose, I think it's an important part in a footballer’s career. I need to stay confident and be sure that I’m going to be there again.
“Last season I was just watching the games in the stands, so it was a little bit frustrating. I wanted to be there on the pitch helping the team, but it was not possible. Now I’m there on the pitch, I want to give my best to forget all about that.”
On adding more goals
“We have been having the ball, playing good I think, but we are just missing the last pass, the last touch. Maybe we have to be more there in the box, to score. Sometimes we are there but with not too many people. We have to put more people inside the box to score more goals.
“A tough game [against Brighton]. They have a difficult system, so we have to be patient with the ball, knowing that patience can be boring, we have to be patience, but attack the ball and I hope we score."
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 29, 2022
On the race for Europe
“We are looking forward to it. Our results have not been the best in the last weeks, but we are lucky because the other teams haven’t had the results. We are still there in the fight, we still have five games to go, so we go until the end.
“It’s good for us. We win, we are there the same points as West Ham. So, it is good for us to know we are still fighting for something, to keep going for the next five games. Tough games, but we have good players, we are playing well, so we need to be confident and keep believing.
“It’s credit for all the people that take part in the club. We fight in the first season, we got into the Europa League, just for goal difference we were not able to compete in the Europa League again. Now, we are there fighting. We have to keep believing, keep trying and all push for ward the same.”
On his new head gear
“I changed it now. It’s lighter, so I think it’s going to be better for me – I feel more comfortable. I have to get used to it. I played almost the whole season with the other one, it was a little bit difficult, but I got used to it and now I have to get used to the new one, and I think it’s going to be easier.
“It’s better for me. It’s not going to make me feel compressed, the head, it’s going to make me feel more normal, more natural, it just covers the fracture, so I think it’s much better. It’s just like a band to hold the hair, so it doesn’t make the ball go anywhere. It’s going to help.”
On using Cech’s experiences
“An outfield player has more contact than a goalkeeper. I talked with him during my recovery. It was better for him to use the helmet because he’s not in much contact playing the 90 minutes. For me, I have to be there running, heading, it was more difficult. So that’s why I used another one.
“He knows what it feels like. It was good. Since I woke up in the hospital, I had a message from him, and he told me whatever I needed, whenever I wanted to talk, he was there. If I wanted something explained, he was there for me. He was really good.
“We are now a model. You can do it. If you want it, you can achieve it. You have to keep going like that and show other people that it’s possible.”
