Wolves should have 'galling' Leeds defeat out of their system
- Published
Mike Taylor, BBC Radio WM
A fortnight having passed in the meantime, Wolves will hopefully have managed to get the bitterness from the galling defeat by Leeds out of their system.
Not all the effects will be so easily shaken off, though; Raul Jimenez begins a two-game suspension after his second unusual dismissal in three months, and the season may be almost over by the time Ruben Neves’ knee ligaments recover.
Once again, then, the recurring theme of Wolves’ season returns. Will Bruno Lage be able to find another winning combination within his thinned-out squad? At best it would seem that his options will be restricted.
However, another feature of Wolves in this campaign has been their handy knack, when apparently in a tight corner, of turning up an unexpected trump card.
The own goal at Watford to break the tension of the early-season drought; the discovery of Toti Gomes when there seemed to be no deputy for Romain Saiss; and most memorably of all, finding Villa’s panic button when these teams last met in October.
That extraordinary result may not be relevant once the teams kick off at Molineux this weekend, but it should serve as an inspiration for Wolves not to give up, despite their problems.
The Villa Park win lifted them into the top half of the Premier League table, where they have remained ever since. Losing to Leeds damaged their European prospects, but did not end them, and Wolves may yet confound anyone who writes them out of contention.
