Wolves return to Premier League action on Saturday, as they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground – and Gary O’Neil is sweating on the fitness of Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Wanderers are hoping to bounce back, after a very frustrating 2-1 defeat to West Ham United last week, which ended in very controversial fashion.
Wolves thought they had scored a late equaliser through Max Kilman. But the goal was chalked off after Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to be interfering from an offside position.
The decision was branded ‘terrible’ by Gary O’Neil, with goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler also branding it ‘horrible’.
Another negative of last weekend’s game was that Rayan Ait-Nouri was forced off with an injury.
The Algeria international has been Wolves’ best player recently, and is seemingly touch and go for the weekend. O’Neil said after the defeat to West Ham: “He’s got a sore calf. He’s got some pain in his calf and it was a big bow. But we wanted to take him off before it got any worse and hopefully he’ll be ok for next week.”
So, with there being a chance for Ait-Nouri to miss out, here’s one way O’Neil could cover his absence…
Gary O’Neil should turn to Hugo Bueno if Rayan Ait-Nouri can’t play for Wolves against Nottingham Forest
Ait-Nouri missing out for Wolves this weekend would be a hammer blow.
O’Neil is already missing Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto, although the South Korean may just make the bench on Saturday having been back in training.
Ait-Nouri has been playing further forwards in recent weeks, and has scored three goals in his last five games.
The 22-year-old has really stepped up, so him being unable to play against Forest really would be far from ideal.
The temptation for O’Neil would be to play Matt Doherty on the left side, which is something he has done several times this season. But it feels like Hugo Bueno should really get the nod if Ait-Nouri is unavailable.
The Spaniard has found minutes hard to come by this season as a result of the form of Ait-Nouri. As such, there has been some speculation recently about Bueno’s future, with Celtic apparently keen to sign him.
But he should get a chance to start on Saturday at left wing-back. He recently showed his quality in the defeat to Coventry City when he ghosted into the box to score a late goal, and he just provides more of a natural option on that left side.
Bueno is a great young player, and it’s kind of been forgotten just how good he was last season when he was a regular under Julen Lopetegui. The ‘excellent’ 21-year-old will surely be champing at the bit to make an impression.
Doherty has not really made the most of his chances this season when playing on the left, and didn’t have a particularly great game against West Ham, so Bueno should get a chance.
Two up top
So with Bueno to play as a left wing-back in the potential absence of Ait-Nouri, it would probably mean O’Neil using a front two and three in midfield.
Matheus Cunha may have enough to start now after two substitute appearances since his return from injury, and the Brazilian could play up top with Pablo Sarabia.
Tommy Doyle did well on the left side in the first-half against West Ham, but he needs restoring to the middle where he is more effective.
The Englishman should play at the base of the midfield, with Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes just ahead of him.
Hopefully, Ait-Nouri will be OK to start the game on Saturday, but it certainly feels as though Bueno at left wing-back, with Cunha and Sarabia up top, should be the alternative plan of action.