Raul Jimenez's goal on Wolves return a confidence boost - Julen Lopetegui

Julen Lopetegui hopes Raul Jimenez’s goal will be a confidence boost for the striker – as rumours swirl about the Mexican’s exit.

Raul Jimenez of Wolverhampton Wanderers celebrates with team mates Hugo Bueno, Hwang Hee-chan, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes of Wolverhampton Wanderers after scoring their sides first goal during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Gillingham at Molineux on December 20, 2022 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images).

Jimenez came off the bench against Gillingham, for his first appearance since August 31, and scored the penalty that helped Wolves secure a 2-0 Carabao Cup win.

Now, Lopetegui hopes that strike will help Jimenez rediscover his form for the club.

“It’s good for Raul and it’s good for us,” he said. “All strikers want to score and it’ll be important for his confidence, but above all it’s important for the team.

“Always when you win it’s good for confidence and for the team.

“In the same way, it’s a different competition, a different opponent with a different style. It’ll be difficult.

“We have to be ready. Our mentality for the next match is going to be different and we have to be ready to have a good answer for a very good team in Everton.”

However, there have been rumours about Jimenez’s potential departure and when asked if that could come in January, Lopetegui refused to be drawn on it.

He said: “I understand that it’s possible for the interest on the future of players to be higher, but for me as a coach I want to put a focus on matches.

“After, we don’t know what will happen when the market is open. Anything can happen with a lot of players, either at the club or players that come here. I prefer to put the focus on the matches. The most important thing, and I translate this to the players, is not to talk about signings.

“It’s about telling the players to believe more in themselves and improve their performances.

“I am sorry, but I am not going to speak about the market.”

Wolves’ performance on Tuesday night was frustrating as they struggled to break down a stubborn Gillingham defence.

When asked if the performance proves there is a lot of work to do with the Wolves team, Lopetegui said: “Sure, a lot. We have to improve a lot of things.

“But at the same time I want to highlight the mentality of the team, because it’s not easy to win these kind of matches. You know better than me about the cups in England and the difficult matches. In the end we didn’t concede anything and we had a lot of chances to score.

“That’s the danger, if you don’t score you can lose. It’s very important to get through and now we have to look at the next match and we have to improve.

“We are going to be ready.”