Bruno Lage: We must manage Diego Costa minutes to avoid Wolves striker injury crisis

Sasa Kalajdzic is currently sidelined with an ACL injury, while Raul Jimenez’s persistent groin problem means a timeline is yet to be set on his return.

As a result, Wolves are now relying on veteran Diego Costa, who has not played football for 10 months. Lage has hinted he could start at West Ham tomorrow, but that the club need to manage his minutes to avoid disaster.

When asked if the club will be forced to play Costa sooner than they’d like, Lage said: “I’m in the middle of that. If we need him, he’s there.

“If we lose him – and we cannot afford to lose another striker – we will have a problem on our hands.

“So we will take the best decision for us, for the player, the staff and for the club.”

Meanwhile, Hwang Hee-chan is also injured with an unspecified problem.

Lage added: “I’m frustrated. I like him a lot, he’s a great professional and the way he played the first half of the season last year was so good.

“We were talking about the good partnership with him and Raul, and in the second half of the season there was a lot of injuries and it’s been the same situation this season.

“It’s not a good sign, but I believe a lot in him. It’s not a big problem, he just felt something that meant he can’t be involved in training or the game. It’s something that’s not good for his consistency.”