O’Neil Rules 5 Players Out for Wolves v Aston Villa
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has delivered a big injury update ahead of the Premier League clash with Aston Villa this weekend.
The boss has been struggling with a major defensive crisis in recent weeks with several first-team stars out injured, leaving him with a headache amid a poor start to the season with just one point from their opening four games so far.
After being eliminated from the EFL Cup in midweek following a 3-2 defeat to Brighton too, fans are hopeful of seeing their fortunes turned around against local rivals Villa at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon, and O’Neil has been handed a major boost ahead of the clash
Three Ruled Out for Wolves v Aston Villa
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, O’Neil has confirmed that he is still without Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Medina and Bastien Menadjou through injury. However, defender Rayan Ait-Nouri faces a late check along with Toti, while Craig Dawson is also fit to play in the middle of the defence.
Yerson Mosquera is ruled out with an injury and will miss the fixture, meaning there could be a Premier League debut for youngster Alfie Pond. Boubacar Kamara is expected to be out for several months with an injury, with O’Neil revealing he is on crutches currently and won’t be back until around Christmas.
‘We have to check on Toti and Rayan [Ait-Nouri]. Neither of them have done too much this week, and they still have some work to do to make themselves available for Villa.
After defeats to Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United this season, Wolves have tough fixtures against Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City in their next four games which could see the team plunged further into a relegation battle in the coming weeks.
GIVEMESPORT sources have revealed however, that as things stand O’Neil is “under no pressure at all” currently with his job status, with the club deeming this season as a fresh slate after a bad end to last season.
With a defensive crisis on the cards at Molineux, O’Neil has turned his eye to the free agent market to help aid the squad and former Liverpool star Joel Matip has emerged as a target.
The 33-year-old has been a target for a host of clubs since leaving Anfield in the summer, but his fitness is seen as a concern after he missed the majority of his final campaign with a serious knee injury.
But Wolves are keen to bring the Cameroon international into the club to aid their current defensive situation and a move is something that could materialise in the coming weeks once the player makes a final decision on his future.
