An impressive statistic has emerged that proves just how much Wolves have missed one of their current injured stars.
Wolves face a daunting trip to Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Despite recording a memorable 1-0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s men in the reverse fixture, it looks an incredibly tall order for Gary O’Neil’s men to pull off an upset at the Etihad.
Man City are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this term, winning 12 of their 17 matches as they look on course to win an unprecedented fourth title in a row.
Coming out on top against the champions is difficult at the best of times, especially when several first-team stars are out injured.
O’Neil’s squad has been injury-hit in recent months, which has contributed to them dropping out of European contention, with one player sorely missed.
Gary O’Neil has missed Craig Dawson
Veteran centre-back Craig Dawson formed a strong partnership with Max Kilman and Toti Gomes.
The 33-year-old however, is currently sidelined through injury and has missed eight matches.
During that time, Wolves have collected just two wins against Fulham and Luton Town, which implies how they’ve struggled defensively without their “incredible” defender.
It’s also alarming that O’Neil’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet in the Englishman’s absence and one particular statistic explains why they’ve struggled.
In the Premier League, Dawson (39) is only behind Everton’s James Tarkwoski (47) for shots blocked, coming to the saviour of his team by putting his body on the line.
This demonstrates how much Wolves have missed his presence defensively and considering he’s been absent for 10 top-flight games, perhaps he could have topped that list if he’d played every match.
O’Neil wishes he has Craig Dawson fit for selection vs Man City
Wolves will go to Man City and operate in a low back, soaking up pressure from the hosts and hitting them on the counter-attack.
It’s a tactic O’Neil deployed that worked to perfection in September, though he did have his trusty back three of Kilman, Dawson and Toti to guard their goal.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the luxury of selecting Dawson this time around and he’ll be a huge miss.
The former West Ham United hero brings so much experience and defensive nous to the Wolves back line, with O’Neil claiming he wants the veteran to stay at Molineux till he’s in his 40s.
That just highlights how well-regarded he is in the dressing room, and there is no doubt that if he was fit to play the champions, Wolves would have a much better chance of stealing a result.