Latest Wolves transfer news as Gary O’Neil hints at his January transfer window plans after the 2-1 win over AFC Bournemouth
Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil has admitted that he is concerned by the lack of squad depth at his disposal following news of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s muscle injury.
O’Neil marked his return to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon with a dramatic 2-1 win. Sasa Kalajdzic came off the bench to net the game’s winner – just as he did at Everton in August – after Matheus Cunha cancelled out Dominic Solanke’s opener.
The win will come as a great relief to O’Neil having been without Nelson Semedo and Mario Lemina due to suspension. There was also no sign of Bellegarde despite the summer signing returning from his own suspension.
It was confirmed that the midfielder had picked up a “small muscle injury” earlier in the week. And speaking in his post-match press conference, the Wolves boss admitted that the squad depth in the Black Country will be the focus in the January transfer window.
“To be honest, I’m a bit worried about squad depth,” the 40-year-old said. “Matt Doherty shouldn’t have played today really. He strained his groin yesterday and I thought he was definitely out.
“We would have been missing Doc (Doherty), Nelson (Semedo), Mario (Lemina) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who has a small muscle injury. I was worried that coming to a difficult place like this without four big players would have been tough.
“We do have a small squad at this moment and we’ll hopefully look to address a couple areas in January.”
Despite seeing his side come from behind to be victorious against his former employers, O’Neil piled the praise onto his players after overcoming a difficult summer in contrast to their Premier League rivals.
“Sasa (Kalajdzic) was excellent when he came on. He’s now scored two goals off the bench. Pablo (Sarabia) had an impact, Tommy Doyle was excellent. I managed to move (Mathues) Cunha and Channy (Hwang Hee-chan) a little bit. Cunha was a nine and I switched him with Channy.
“We have some talent, we just need to make sure we keep the boys fit as it’s not the deepest of squads.
“I look at Bournemouth’s squad now and the money they spent in the summer and the amount of depth they have now. Look at the amount of wingers they can bring on.
“Trying to pick which winger they’re going to play is difficult, whereas at our place, people that can play wide are pretty much Channy and Pedro.
“There’s a bit of a difference depth-wise with the squad. We had a different summer to them and managed to make an £80million profit while they spent over £100million.
“But I have an incredible group. They’re unbelievably tight and understand what I expect of them. They’ve given me everything so far.”
