Gary O’Neil was handed a boost this week with the return of Pedro Neto to training after almost two months out, but the head coach has also been dealt a blow after confirming three members of his side are still getting back to full fitness after illness swept the camp.
Mario Lemina, Matheus Cunha and Craig Dawson have missed a couple of days with the group at Compton Park this week as they recover from a bug, while Nelson Semedo has carried out a full week of training after all four players felt under the weather before last weekend’s trip to West Ham.
But with Chelsea the visitors to Molineux on Sunday, O’Neil believes all of his players will be fighting fit – including Jose Sa, after the goalkeeper trained this week having missing the West Ham clash with a shoulder issue – as the squad looks to give the fans an early present at Molineux on Christmas Eve.
On getting players back to full fitness
“Pedro [Neto]’s back training and has trained the full week with the lads, so we’ll see how he goes during the next two days to how much involvement he can have at the weekend. But training’s going well, he feels good, so let’s see how he is come Sunday.
“Jose [Sa]’s good. He trained fully the last couple of days, so he’ll be fit and ready for the weekend. There were actually four lads who were ill [at West Ham] and they missed a couple of days after the game.
“Mario and Matheus Cunha didn’t train the first day with the group and Daws’ missed the first couple. Nels [Semedo] was ok because he was a bit further along with his, so he was feeling slightly better and has trained the full week.
“But so far, no-one else seemed to have picked it up so it looks like we’re coming through that now. They’re all back in training fully today, Daws’ first day back training and they all came through fully.”
😂 @LeminaM_13 pic.twitter.com/DEQimB5jGy
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 21, 2023
On Neto’s return to training
“Everyone will be excited to see Pedro back. Everyone will understand that we want Pedro back ready as well, not just because we feel like we need to put him in. If you look at the spell since he’s been out, the lads have managed to keep pushing results and performances and if I think of some other teams who have had key players missing, it always has impacts on results.
“Tottenham without Maddison and van de Ven went on a tough run, Manchester City with no De Bruyne or Rodri, Arsenal last year when they lost Saliba they were probably going to win the league, so that moment that everyone felt against Newcastle when they felt, ‘Big player. Gone for a while. How will they do?’
“We’ve kept ploughing along and we’ve not picked up as many results as we would have liked, but we’ve beat Burnley, beat Spurs, drew against Nottingham Forest, been right in the game at Fulham, right in the game at Sheffield United, so the lads deserve a lot of credit for the work they’re putting in.
“It’s not just let get Pedro back and everything’s fixed. As good as he is and as eager everyone will be to get him back, the club keeps pushing forward until he’s completely ready.”
On not rushing the winger back
“Pedro’s an intelligent guy, so he knows the nature of the injury and he knows it’s not one you could rush, so he’s been really patient with the rehab and what he’s done with the medical team to get him in the best place possible.
“He’s recovered fairly quickly to this point because of the work that he’s done and now it’s all of our jobs at the club to make sure we protect him, to make sure that he’s ready, but also that we get him back as soon as possible because he’s a huge asset to the team and a huge asset to the football club.
“He’ll give everyone a lift when he’s back, but I can assure you that there won’t be any chances taken with how long or how soon. It will all be done the right way and make sure we get the best for the team and the best for Pedro.”
A step closer in his recovery 💪 pic.twitter.com/jAUzpkXCYT
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 21, 2023
On improving from last weekend
“Three counter-attack goals gave us no chance to take anything from the game, but they were really easy fixes that we’ve been over with the lads to ensure that we understand.
“The first one from a corner, the second one a slight misunderstanding in the structure and the third one, still disappointing, but we’re pushing at that point. It is my job to analyse the game without emotion and when you do, loads of the stuff in it was really good.
“Numbers were good in terms of final third entries, penalty box entries, shots, so lots of stuff in there is positive, but when you lose 3-0 no-one’s interested in that, so we need to fix the bits that need fixing and get back on to a home game this weekend and try to put things right.”
On getting consistency in performances
“That is the challenge, and mainly performance level, because you can’t always control the result. You can control large parts of it and give yourself the opportunity so the result will go your way, but we’re always trying to ensure the performance level remains high whether things are going well or not.
“Part of the work we’re doing with the group is on consistency and when things are going bad, can we remain together and look like us, when things are going well can we keep our foot on the floor and still make it look like us.
“But the Premier League is tough and if you’re consistent in it, you’ll be up the top, and we are where we are at this moment because of the levels of performance we’ve managed to produce.
“We’re probably in a better spot than most would have envisaged at this point, but it doesn’t mean we’re satisfied with where we are. There’s a lot of work to do on the pitch and in the club to try and get things to where we want to get it to.”
