WATCH FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GARY O'NEIL'S PRESS CONFERENCE
O’Neil on injury latest, West Ham and learning from squad struggles
Gary O’Neil has been speaking to the media before Wolves’ Premier League match against West Ham at Molineux on Saturday.
Here are the main headlines from his news conference:
Hwang Hee-chan and Craig Dawson both trained with the team on Friday after their recent injuries. “It was their first main session, they’ve done a couple of smaller ones, they’ll be reviewed after the session and we’ll see if they’re going to be part of the matchday squad.”
Matheus Cunha has had “no issues” following his cameo from the bench at Burnley, while Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is “doing better now” but still not available for selection.
O’Neil spoke after the Burnley match about the club’s squad depth and the failure to add a new striker in January. “I always try to speak really honestly and openly around situations and it was more an explanation as to the situation we find ourselves in and something we have to learn from,” said the Wolves boss on Friday.
He continued: “I know the club have invested an awful lot of money over the years and they’re not in a position to do so at the moment. It’s left us in a situation where we are short, but there wasn’t too much that could be done about it. We tried, we worked hard on it, and in the end financially we couldn’t get anything done that we felt would help us. It’s something that I think it’s important we learn from for next season.”
A win on Saturday would take Wolves above West Ham and, depending on other results, potentially into seventh spot. O’Neil said: “There’s been a lot of hard work gone in to get us into this position from everybody. We’re still right there with eight games to go, we’re still in with a shout [of qualifying for Europe]. It will take a lot of hard work still to get us there but I’m really pleased with the position we find ourselves in.”
On Saturday’s opponents: “West Ham will be a tough test definitely, they’ve got a lot of their key players back now. They went through a tough spell with a few attacking players out but they’ve got most of them back. It will be a test but one we’re really looking forward to. The players worked hard for their point away from home [at Burnley] and to be able to add three at home this weekend would make it a good week for us.”