Southampton v Wolves: Pedro Neto's pain can fuel him like before

And one gold and black player is out to repeat history by netting in the next game after being denied a goal by VAR, writes Joe Edwards.

Pedro Neto thought he had opened the scoring at Manchester United in the FA Cup on Wednesday night, slotting home from close range after a defensive mix-up.

However, the strike was chalked off upon review because of a handball from fellow attacker Raul Jimenez – and the controversial rule which means even unintentional handballs in the build-up to goals leads to them being disallowed – as Wolves ended up being sent out of the competition.

Neto, though, has been in this position before.

Cruelly denied a goal at Liverpool a few weeks ago because of a fractional offside against Jonny Castro Otto, the Portuguese youngster dusted himself down and opened his Wolves account in the next game – the New Year’s Day defeat at Watford.

So, the teenager will be out to use his frustration as fuel to find the net at St Mary’s, and hoping it will contribute to a victory this time around.

Team-mate John Ruddy has been impressed by the character of Neto – who was signed in the summer from Lazio and has had an extended run of games as a starter while Diogo Jota has been out with a calf injury – and said: “To be fair to him, he keeps working hard and keeps getting into the positions.

“His performances recently, considering he hasn’t played a lot of games over the course of a couple of years, have been exceptional.

“He’s working hard. It’s hard when that hard work seems to be rewarded, but then it’s taken off you.

“You saw his celebration at Anfield. He has scored in front of the Kop, but then it gets ruled out for offside, a marginal decision which nobody else has seen.

“It’s hard to swallow, but VAR is something that is here to stay.”

It was the latest in a long line of VAR decisions against Wolves – and Ruddy did not hold back when asked about the technology.

“What can you say? Listen, I’m not a fan of VAR, never have been, never wanted it in,” he said.

“It’s here, but I just think when you bring something like VAR in, to then change a rule like the handball rule and make it so minute is asking for trouble.

“We’re seeing time and time again this season that it is costing teams for the smallest of things, we’ve had it two or three times now with this rule alone. So, yes, frustrated.”

Ruddy will be hoping VAR does not come to haunt Wolves tomorrow – but will be doing so from the bench.

Rui Patricio is set to return between the sticks against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s resurgent Saints.

And Ruddy said after the Cup exit: “Ultimately, I don’t know when the next game is coming. It’s something I’m aware of, so I’ll keep myself ticking over.”

Diogo Jota and Willy Boly are recovering well from their respective injuries, but this game is coming too soon for both of them. Ruben Vinagre will be assessed after appearing to tweak his hamstring at United.

Wolves likely XI: Patricio; Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss; Doherty, Moutinho, Neves, Otto; Traore, Jimenez, Neto