Wolves now have six games left in the Premier League and for many of the players, the summer cannot come quick enough.
Wanderers still have an outside chance of securing European football. But realistically, it will be very difficult with the club now five points behind eighth-placed West Ham United.
Wolves have enjoyed a tremendous, but the lack of squad depth is really catching up with the players.
After the draw with Burnley, O’Neil spoke about the size of the squad and how he expressed his concerns to the board. Ultimately, there was nothing Wolves could really do about the situation, given the financial restraints.
So O’Neil had to plod on and put his faith in the likes of Leon Chiwome, Nathan Fraser and Tawanda Chirewa when Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto were all out injured at the same time.
You can see that fatigue is now really starting to set in for some.
Andy Thompson said recently that Mario Lemina was looking ‘jaded’, and after the draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, O’Neil admitted one of his most key players was simply ‘exhausted’…
Gary O’Neil drops a worrying update on Nelson Semedo as burnout fears grow
On Saturday, Nelson Semedo made his 36th appearance of the season for Wolves across all competitions.
The Portugal international has had a tremendous campaign, and has had the complete trust of the manager since day one.
The 30-year-old has pretty much played at every turn, with O’Neil a huge fan of what he brings to the table.
But he has looked a bit off his usual high level in the last few games, and you can see that the amount of football he has played and lack of rotation is starting to catch up with him. Only captain Max Kilman has played more minutes for Wolves than him this season (via WhoScored).
Semedo was withdrawn on 88 minutes against Forest by O’Neil with the defender trudging off, and O’Neil admitted after the game (via Wolves official): “Nelson [Semedo] was exhausted and both hamstrings tightened up.”
Semedo needs a rest
Semedo must be close to suffering burnout at this point because the man has played so much football this season.
And it’s worth pointing out that he plays at right wing-back, a position that demands the player bomb up and down the channel to provide support in attack and defence.
Semedo is supremely fit, but this level of involvement was always going to catch up with him.
Ideally, he would be rotated out of the team. Matt Doherty is an option to replace him, with Hugo Bueno and Rayan Ait-Nouri options to play on the opposite side.
But we know O’Neil adores Semedo and it’s clear he feels there would be a drop-off in quality.
Wolves fans will just hope that Semedo can steer clear of any injuries and hopefully that much-needed rest will come soon. As with several other Wolves players he has been no stranger to a hamstring injury during his time at the club.