Bruno Lage tough on Wolves' attacking stars

Daniel Podence came in for only his second Premier League start of the season on Saturday, after waiting almost two months for another chance.

Adama Traore has also been left on the bench for the last three games, while Francisco Trincao has been in and out of the team after struggling for form.

Hwang Hee-chan is the only winger to lock down his place so far and Lage acknowledges it has been tough for his players to force themselves into the team permanently.

“I think it’s been difficult for everyone,” he said.

“Even for Adama, he came inside and did very well. Also Daniel, when he comes inside and helps us to be better and score goals to win games.

“Also for Trincao. He’s played more and is doing well also. He can link the game and create a lot of chances. He’s missed a lot of chances, he needs one goal to be solid.

“I am very happy with the four guys. They have different profiles and they give me different solutions to pick the best one at each moment, depending also on the opponent.

“I know Daniel is one profile and Trincao, Hwang and Adama are the same. I am very happy with the work they are doing.

“I chose Daniel and he’s doing well. Every time he comes from the bench he helps us to be more solid, consistent and create goals.

“Now he played and he played very well. The way we scored the goal was very good.”

Podence impressed as he picked up the ball in spaces in between the lines and set up the winning goal against West Ham.

And Lage felt the winger’s strengths perfectly suited the game plan against The Hammers.

He added: “Daniel can give us a dynamic inside and we needed to find that, but not too much inside. We needed to play in half spaces and he’s doing very well in that situation.

“When you look at the four defenders, especially the two central defenders for West Ham, they are big guys so we needed to put in guys with agility in situations one against one.

“I think he’s one of the best guys in our squad to do that and that’s why we chose him.”