Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui pleased with Nelson Semedo's improvement

The right-back has had issues with consistency throughout most of his Wolves career, and has endured struggles this season too.

However, since Lopetegui has come in Semedo has largely impressed, and played a key role in recent results.

The head coach has stuck with him at right-back since his arrival and is pleased with the strides he is taking.

Lopetegui said: "He's showing that he is a good player, above all.

"He loves football and works very hard every day. He is very focused now.

"I can only talk about my experience with him here and we are happy with him.

"We are happy with his commitment and his performances.

"All of the players can always do better, the coach too, but are happy with his work."

Semedo has often been criticised for his defending, but seems to have improved in that regard under Lopetegui.

The head coach added: "He's a defender and the first step is to defend.

"After, you can offer the team more things.

"The first aim of a defender is to defend."

On the other side, Jonny Castro Otto came in at left-back on Saturday after Hugo Bueno suffered a hamstring injury.

Rayan Ait-Nouri was expected to start but was overlooked, and was an unused substitute for the fixture.

Lopetegui has previously challenged Ait-Nouri to improve his defending and while he believes he will improve, the head coach thinks he still has plenty of work to do.

He said: “He has to be ready.

“He has played but we have one other solution too. It depends on the match, but he has played a lot.

“He is working very hard to know more about the defensive phase.

“I think his biggest strengths and qualities are with the ball. It’s about showing it in the trigger moment to make a play. Football is about making good decisions, it’s not always about the quality of the players.

“He’s trying to know more about the play. He is a strong player, he has it all to become a good left-back for sure."