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Wolverhampton Wanderers could welcome back several injured players against Everton on Saturday.
Vitor Pereira has been boosted by the returns of five injured players to training this week ahead of Saturday evening’s hosting of Everton in the Premier League.
Wolves will be desperate to pick up their seventh victory of the season to move further away from the relegation zone with this the fourth-easiest fixture remaining, at least on paper. Wanderers have three huge clashes with current bottom three Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton to come but points must be picked up from other matches, too.
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Pereira will at least have a wider group to choose from for his team selection as several players who were injury doubts have been pictured in training. Emmanuel Agbadou, Rodrigo Gomes, Goncalo Guedes, Carlos Forbs and Marshall Munetsi have all been with the group at the tail-end of this week, potentially putting all five in contention to face the Toffees.
Of those, Agbadou has undoubtedly been the biggest miss. The central defender, signed from Stade de Reims in January for £16 million, has transformed Wolves’ shaky defence by providing much-needed aerial dominance and pace in Pereira’s back three.
The impact wasn’t absolutely immediate as Wanderers shipped eight goals in Agbadou’s first four matches but there were then two rare, back-to-back clean sheets against Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. After that, Wolves put in a sturdy defensive display - especially in the second half - despite a 2-1 defeat away at Liverpool, when Agbadou unfortunately went off injured.
Rodrigo coming back into the fold is important, too, as the versatile winger - returning following pelvic inflammation - can inject some pace and flair off the bench. The same can be said for Goncalo Guedes and Carlos Forbs, who have been unavailable through a knee injury and illness respectively.
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Guedes could be in the line for a start through the centre or perhaps could be utilised for fresh legs in the second half. Forbs, on the other hand, is still adjusting to Pereira’s system and is unlikely to play more than 20 or 30 minutes – if he’s lucky.
Finally, Marshall Munetsi hasn’t actually been sidelined for any matches yet but was confirmed to have picked up a knock following the FA Cup penalty shootout defeat at Bournemouth. Pictures of the Zimbabwean back in training have since emerged, though, so he should be fine to feature.
Returns a boost but Cunha a huge miss
So many players becoming available again is great news for Pereira but one man - now out for several matches - is arguably more important than them all combined. That’s right, Wolves will be without Matheus Cunha for the Premier League fixtures against Everton, Southampton and West Ham United following his ridiculous sending-off at the Vitality Stadium.
Cunha had scored a 30-yard rocket to bring Wolves level at 1-1 but he was then shown red deep into extra time for throwing a punch and blatantly head-butting Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez. The Brazilian must now pay the consequences with a three-match suspension.
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A scorer in all six of Wolves’ Premier League victories so far this season, Cunha is pivotal to the Old Gold even standing a chance of survival. The five-point gap to the drop zone simply wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Wolves’ number 10 breaking his side out of jail on many occasions.
That’s all well and good if you’re available to play, though. Cunha must take a long, hard look at himself following his behaviour, especially as he is among the leaders in this Wanderers team.
In other news, are Wolves suffering from a captain’s curse?