Nuno suggests injury issues are growing for Wolves
Wolves still have injury issues going into Sunday's clash with Leicester – and perhaps even fresh worries on top.
On the state of his squad ahead of welcoming the Foxes to Molineux, Nuno Espirito Santo insisted that ‘when you see the squad list, you will understand all the situations’.
The left side of defence is a particular concern with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Romain Saiss, Jonny Castro Otto and Fernando Marcal having all been on the sidelines recently.
Centre-half Max Kilman was forced to fill in there as Wolves finally got back to winning ways against Arsenal in midweek, and he may have to do so again judging by Nuno’s comments when asked for team news.
“I will not talk too much about that,” he said.
“Probably, when you see the squad list, you will understand all the situations.
“We have problems. I will keep those (to myself), but we still have some issues to assess.”
Nuno only named eight substitutes instead of the permitted nine against the Gunners, but was happy to see his side end an eight-game winless run in the Premier League.
Having started ever so sluggishly, Wolves fell behind to a Nicolas Pepe strike and looked to be on course for a thrashing, but David Luiz’s sending-off and subsequent penalty which was converted by Ruben Neves drastically altered the game.
Joao Moutinho then came up with a stunner while Arsenal ended with nine men, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno also dismissed.
“The confidence and the mood is better,” said Nuno on the mood in the camp after their first victory of 2021.
“The approach of the game was better, but it was a strange game to give a proper evaluation because of all the circumstances and red cards.
“The first half, the beginning of the game, showed us we have to compete better. There are still problems there for us to solve. This is the focus.
“It’s totally different than our normal routines, but we’re on the process of trying to improve our players.
“We have to improve our players individually, and then the improvement of the team will come naturally.
“So, this is what we will try. We’ll approach the game realising we have problems, but we have to compete. We have to find the best team to compete against a very tough opponent.”
As Nuno says, regardless of the injuries, there is an onus on starting sharper against the Foxes.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are third in the table, have broken the traditional ‘big six’ mould and in many ways are what Wolves aspire to be in the long term – a club that upsets the status quo and can challenge for titles.
But Nuno said: “We are on our own journey, our own moment. We think about ourselves and we have a lot of things to focus on.
“Leicester have a fantastic manager, a fantastic squad. They have a lot of quality with the way they play, the dynamics of the team. They’re a big, big team doing very good things.
“But at the same time, you look at what’s happening (in the Premier League) and it’s totally unpredictable.
“This season is totally unpredictable. On a weekly basis, you cannot predict what’s going to happen in a game.
“To tell which team is going to do what, it’s too soon. We can’t do that until very late in the competition.”
Nuno, whose men are 14th and hoping to climb towards the top half of the table sooner rather than later, added: “It’s about improving each and every one of our players. This what we want. We are totally focused on that task.”
