Wolves v Newcastle preview: Bruno Lage expecting stern Magpies test

The Magpies arrive at Molineux with a win and two draws from their Premier League games so far this season, including the impressive 3-3 stalemate with Manchester City.

Wolves are yet to register a win and have one point from a possible nine, despite putting in some good displays, and Lage is anticipating a difficult game.

When asked about the job Howe has done at Newcastle, Lage said: “I’ve know him since I worked at Swansea and he was at Bournemouth. We know what kind of work he did over there.

“He’s had a chance at Newcastle and has transformed the team. They’ve changed the dynamic and it is easier when you have the chance to buy players like they did.

“We played against Burnley and Wood was there, a few weeks later we played Newcastle and Wood was there. I know Wood from his time at Leeds in the Championship, because I played against him, and he’s a top striker.

“We are talking about a team that wants to grow up as soon as possible, with a manager who is young and ambitious but has a lot of experience in the Premier League.

“The way they started the league is a strong sign from them.”

Lage added: “It’ll be a hard game, like the previous two we played against them.

“Look at the kind of players they have bought, you can see the strong team they are with the way they’ve started the season.

“The manager is experienced and knows everything about the Premier League. That’s the challenge and we look forward to it.

“We are here to compete against the strongest and Newcastle are a strong team.”

Meanwhile, Wolves are set to have a clean bill of health for tomorrow’s game, with everyone available bar Chiquinho, who has a long-term injury.

Lage said: “Everyone is fit and everyone is training, which is a good sign.

“Connor Ronan played 90 minutes for the under-21s and is tired, so cannot be involved in the squad, but everyone else is fit.”

It remains to be seen if Yerson Mosquera makes the squad for tomorrow’s game, with Willy Boly’s future uncertain.

Lage, however, has now confirmed that he would like to send Mosquera on-loan before the window closes.

He said: “The club followed him for a period, when I arrived after one week they took the decision to bring him here. We remember the big impact that he had in the beginning of pre-season, then came injuries – one in pre-season and another against Tottenham that made him go all season without playing.

“He started pre-season, but I cannot say that I am being fair with him. Now we are playing with just two centre-backs, sometimes he plays as a right-back, and what we want is to understand what is best for him.

“We have some questions about our centre-backs, so let’s see what happens until the end of the market. What I want for Yerson is to understand if he has a fair chance to train in his position and to compete in his position. That is good and a natural process.

“If he doesn’t have that, I think we need to find a place for him to play because he needs and he deserves to play to continue to improve. He’s a valuable player, he’s very young and he can have a good career in the club.

“At the moment we have five (centre-backs) with us, let’s see what happens until the end of the market. Until the end we are looking at Yerson’s situation because he’s a lovely boy and deserves more than he is getting at the moment.

“When he is training in that position (right back) he can play there, but he understands the game better as a centre-back. Now we are worried about him, so every time he has the chance he plays with the under-21s. We are trying to do our best to give minutes to everyone. Some of them in the Premier League, some in the League Cup, and others in the under-21 games.”

Opposition view

Eddie Howe is hoping Alexander Isak with add ‘the X-factor’ to his team as Newcastle smash their transfer record.

The 22-year-old Sweden international has completed a move understood to be worth around £58million from Spanish side Real Sociedad.

The deal has smashed the £40m the Magpies paid for Brazilian Joelinton during the summer of 2019 and take the club’s spending in the two transfer windows since Amanda Staveley’s consortium took over to around £210m. Isak has been a long-term target for the Magpies, whose need has grown in the past week as a result of the hamstring strain suffered by Callum Wilson in Sunday’s 3-3 Premier League draw with champions Manchester City. Howe said: “He will add those qualities he has – he has pace, technical ability, dribbling ability, he has got a bit of X-factor about him.

“He is slightly different and I think he is capable of scoring goals.”

Isak said: “I’m delighted to have it done. It was a big, big decision for me but it is a decision I am really happy with.

“It is a great, historical club that I think anyone would like to play for, with amazing fans.

“They were a big part of why I came here – and also the club’s project, which is one that I really believe in.

“You always want to go into a team and know how they play. I think Newcastle play very attractive football and I want to be a part of that.”

Wilson, meanwhile, is facing a spell on the sidelines and while Howe has insisted his injury is not serious, he admits that situation did add urgency to the pursuit of Isak. He said: “Naturally with Callum’s injury – which we don’t believe to be serious, by the way, we’re hopeful that Callum will only be out for a couple of weeks - but naturally we acted slightly off that in terms of we were always looking for attacking players, but it changed our focus maybe slightly on the type.

“But we’re delighted to hopefully sign Alex, who will be a big player for us.”

Howe confirmed the club is in talks with Manchester United over goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, who has been displaced as number one by summer signing Nick Pope, but the Newcastle boss revealed he is in no mood to let the Slovakia international go.

He said: “There has been contact between the clubs, but that will be something that will continue probably to happen, as in the discussions.

“But in terms of an actual final outcome, I’m very reluctant to lose any important players to the group, so that’s a decision that will be out of my hands, really.”