Matheus Cunha backed for lone striker role at Wolves
Julen Lopetegui believes Matheus Cunha is capable of leading the line for Wolves as a lone striker, despite his blossoming partnership with Diego Costa.
The January signing has done well since arriving from Atletico Madrid, but has yet to convince as a number nine in Wolves colours.
In recent weeks, Lopetegui has partnered Cunha with Costa and the pair have helped the club to Premier League safety – but the head coach is not ruling out playing Cunha as a lone striker again.
He said: “It depends. We have played with Matheus as a forward, sometimes with other forwards, it depends on the moment.
“I think he is able to play in both situations. I think it’s about the team.
“When you are playing in one way you have one kind of strength and other weaknesses, and it’s about this.
“We choose in each moment, always thinking we can help the team, and always trying to find the solution.
“We try to always put out a team, and a way to play, that we think will help us more to win each match. Of course, the players have to adapt to our choices, but we also need the players’ opinions.
“They always tell us what they think and we are aware of it, but we have to take a decision based on the analysis.”
Meanwhile, Toti Gomes has described the ‘amazing feeling’ of scoring his first Wolves goal.
The defender, who has forced his way into the team in recent weeks, scored the only goal of the game as Wolves beat Villa 1-0.
Toti said: “I have no words to describe how it feels to score my first goal for Wolves in the Premier League. It’s an amazing feeling, especially playing in this derby and scoring the winning goal, it’s amazing. I’m proud of what we did and it’s special from the team.
“I was speechless. I’ve been waiting for this moment, so I’m really happy and proud that it’s finally happened. I am very grateful for my team-mates because they’ve been helping me a lot and we’ve been through a lot together, so this is an amazing feeling.
“Everybody knew the importance of this game, especially the importance for the fans, and this was an important part for us in trying to win this game.
“The fans are the most important point for us, and the support that they gave us from the beginning of match, and even during the warm-up, it’s really important for us. They really helped push us through this match from the beginning until the end and we really needed that support, so it’s an important win for us.”
