Gary O'Neil backs Wolves man to make mark on remainder of season

The 21-year-old enjoyed his breakthrough campaign last year after finally graduating from the academy and looked set to hold down the left-back spot this season.

But the Spaniard has suffered a series of frustrating injuries and, when he has been fit, Rayan Ait-Nouri has excelled at left-wing-back.

Bueno came on after an hour at Newcastle at the weekend, but before that had only been given two late substitute appearances so far in 2024.

His last start came on December 9, but O’Neil believes he will still make his mark this season.

“It’s an unfortunate season for him so far,” O’Neil said of Bueno. “When I first arrived he was doing really well. Him and Rayan were pushing really hard for the same spot and it was fairly fluid between who got the nod.

“Then he suffered the injury at Ipswich and missed a few games. Rayan did well and when he came back he’d have probably played in one of the cup games but had a sore calf. Sometimes things like that go against you enough that someone comes in and does well.

“He’s had to be really patient. He understands the situation and of course he’s frustrated, he wants to play more minutes.

“But I really value him. I’m really pleased to have him in the squad.

“As we’ve seen, things can change really quickly with injuries or form, and he’ll have a big part to play between now and the end of the season I’m sure.” Another player who may get more chances in the coming weeks is Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, with Wolves suffering injuries to other attacking personnel.

O’Neil was pleased with the Frenchman’s showing against Newcastle and now wants the team to ‘dig in and scrap’ as they face crucial weeks that will determine the success of their season.

“He showed some good moments and looked like he had a goal threat in him,” O’Neil said. “He was unlucky with a header. No complaints with him, I thought he gave everything.

“We’ve had an excellent week with a massive three points at home to Sheffield United and an excellent cup win to get us to a quarter-final.

“But this will be the toughest spell of the season, with where we are at this moment in time and what we have available to us.

“The nature of the Premier League means we will have to dig in and scrap.”