Ex-Wolves physio Paul Darby expects Raul Jimenez to return for Bournemouth clash

Jimenez scored twice in Mexico's 3-0 CONCACAF clash at Panama on Saturday, and is expected to feature in Wednesday’s home clash with Bermuda.

He is due to be back in the UK on Thursday and Darby believes it will take 48 hours for the forward to recover, just in time for Saturday’s Premier League trip.

Speaking about international duty, he said: “It certainly affected players when I was in the game full-time because the travelling arrangements were somewhat archaic to the travel arrangements we have now.

“I would be amazed if he did not come back on a private jet for one or at least at the very front end of a commercial aircraft.

“As long as he has his body clock in the right schedules.

“In other words when he is on the plane he will put himself into Mexican time or whenever he is playing.

“Then when he comes out of that and comes back into English time he will hydrate himself correctly.

“Really it should not take him more than 48 hours to feel that he is back at it.”

Defender Romain Saiss faces a 14-hour flight home from Morocco’s Tuesday night clash at Burundi in central Africa.

But he has an advantage of an extra day’s recovery, with Jimenez’s Mexican clash with Bermuda taking place at Estadio Nemesio Díez in Toluca on Wednesday.

It takes approximately 12 hours to fly from Mexico City to Birmingham international.

And Darby pointed to Wolves’ current successful Europa League recovery protocol as an example to what Jimenez and company will be doing as they rush back.

He said: “Clubs invest money to make sure that once they have stopped playing wherever they are in the world that they don’t then have a 10 or 12 hour flight where they are just sitting or not looking after themselves.

“They will have a protocol in place that means even when they are flying rehabilitation or recovery is taking place.

“It is important to understand the recovery.

“People say to me ‘oh they don’t work that hard, they don’t train that long’.

“I say to people it is not in the exercising that you are getting the benefit it is in the recovery phase.

“Therefore recovery is really important.

“If the club have not quite got the recovery status right then it can affect performance.

“That is why historically over the last few years Thursday night’s Europa League seems to have had an affect where Wednesday-Saturday Champions League has not.

“It would look like Wolves have the Europa League recovery well under control.”