Willy Boly’s broken ankle has also highlighted how few major injuries have been suffered at Wolves

Wolves are waiting to see whether his fractured fibula will require surgery, but with a standard broken bone requiring at least six weeks to heal it is anticipated Boly will be in the treatment room for some time.

He sustained the injury after slipping in training at Compton Park on Saturday and missed the 1-1 draw at Newcastle United.

And he is expected to overtake Ivan Cavaleiro as the player to spend the longest time out of contention under Nuno.

Cavaleiro’s back injury of 2018 is the longest Wolves have been unable a player due to injury under Nuno’s regime.

He missed just over seven weeks of action after injuring his back in the gym during the 2018-19 pre-season campaign.

The winger returned for the 0-0 EFL Cup clash with Leicester in September, but could not re-find his scintillating form of the 2017-18 promotion season and joined Championship side Fulham on-loan this September.

It was revealed in August that forward Raul Jimenez has been playing with a fractured wrist since March – and he is still playing with protective strapping.

Left wing-back Jonny Castro Otto sustained a medial cruciate ligament injury while on international duty for Spain in their 1-0 home win over Bosnia on November 18, 2018. He missed four games but returned for the 2-0 win over Bournemouth on December 15.

But as one player returned that day, Wolves picked up another injury.

Forward Diogo Jota missed four games at the end of 2018 after picking up a hamstring injury against the Cherries.

But he was back for the 2-1 FA Cup third round win over Liverpool on January 7.

Jota has been in the treatment room this term too. The attacker has just returned after missing just under a month of action due to a foot injury.

The Portuguese ace scored a last-gasp winner in the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on September 22 but, after carrying an injury, he took time out to heal. The forward returned for the 1-1 draw with Southampton on October 19.

In the 2018/19 season Jota, Cavaleiro, Jonny, Ruben Vinagre (illness) and Leander Dendoncker (illness) were the only players to miss league games for Wolves. But this season, possibly due to a schedule that will see them play a minimum 53-game season, Wolves have already had to juggle a number of injuries after having near 99 per cent selection availability in 2018/19.

Full-back Matt Doherty missed the majority of pre-season due to knee injury sustained before the trip to China in July.

He returned for the opening day 0-0 Premier League draw with Leicester, but would miss the 3-2 defeat at Everton to undergo minor surgery in September.

Doherty would miss just one game with that treatment solving the issue.

Defender Romain Saiss missed the Southampton game earlier this month due to a hamstring injury, but has since bounced back.

Though his replacement Ryan Bennett has also been in the treatment room.

He limped off with a groin injury against the Saints and has been out of action ever since.

But the club’s head of medical Phil Hayward revealed he is on his way back.

He said: “Ryan Bennett is recovering well from his adductor injury. He has now started outdoor rehab and he will return to training in the coming days.”

Striker Pedro Neto was also out of action for a month due to a back injury.

He came off in the 1-0 Europa League win over Besiktas, but made his comeback off the bench at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Hayward had more good news about young midfielder Bruno Jordao.

The Lazio summer signing limped off on his debut in the Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out win over Championship side Reading last month.

But he could return for the fourth round clash at Villa on Wednesday.

Hayward said: “Bruno Jordao has trained for the last two days and is progressing well. We expect him to be fit for selection very soon.”

Jordao was named in Nuno’s 21-man first team squad at the start of the season but fellow youngster Meritan Shabani is still classed as a development squad player.

The midfielder was stretchered off, like Jordao, on debut against Reading though he is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a serious knee injury.