Morgan Gibbs-White loving first-team life at Wolves

The 17-year-old has just enjoyed a breakthrough year at Molineux, playing eight times in total and making two Championship starts.

He also starred in Wolves Under-21s' fruitful Checkatrade Trophy campaign and earned praise from ex-boss Paul Lambert.

Gibbs-White's season ended on a downer, though, when he suffered a hairline fracture of the foot against Huddersfield and was forced to sit out the last two matches.

He's hopeful, though, of returning to fitness during pre-season.

"It is tough because with having a protective boot on, there’s only so much I can do so it’s just like the same thing most days - it’s just stress," the Stafford-born midfielder said of his current injury.

"It puts a bit of a downer on everything that everyone else is on holiday and I’m in every day - I’ve seen on Snapchat that everyone’s on holiday, everyone’s doing this and doing that, and I’m just stuck here but it will be worth it when it comes to the pre-season and when everyone’s back in.

"I’ll be fit by then and they’ll be trying to get back fit.

"I’ll maybe have a bit of a head start over all of the other boys having spent most of the summer working.

"Hopefully I can crack on at some point in pre-season and get stuck in.

"It will all be worth while in the end - I’m kind of glad that the injury happened now rather than at the beginning of the season because otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am now.

The England youth international was thrown into the limelight when making his senior bow aged just 16 during Wolves' FA Cup win at Stoke in January.

It's been a whirlwind few months and the teenager can't wait for more of the season next season.

He added: "Still to this day I can’t describe my first team debut in words - it was the best feeling that I’ve ever had, just unbelievable.

"I’m loving every minute of it.

"My first start at Bristol City, it was a tough place to go away to but I thought I showed myself and proved myself despite the result.

"First team football is way more physical than I’d expected, and the way people play is a lot more clever as well.

“When you’re playing 21s and 18s it feels like you’re playing for the enjoyment of it or the freedom of it but when you step up to the first team it’s a lot more serious, people are more aggressive and things like that.

“I’ve learnt massively from the experience that I’ve had so far - I’ve played against 7ft defenders!

“It’s definitely improved my game in terms of knowing what to do and where to do it.

“Once I’m back fit I want to be pushing to play in the first team again.

“I will keep pushing and keep proving to everyone what I’m capable of because there’s loads more to come."