Julen Lopetegui gives Daniel Podence update and makes Joao Gomes point for Wolves vs Bournemouth

Latest Wolves news from BirminghamLive includes Julen Lopetegui on Daniel Podence and his squad's fitness ahead of Bournemouth

Alex Dicken Senior Football Writer

13:43, 17 Feb 2023Updated 13:47, 17 Feb 2023

Wolves head coach Julen Lopetegui embraces Daniel Podence

Julen Lopetegui says Daniel Podence is ‘close’ to returning on the eve of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ match against Bournemouth.

Podence, who is Wolves’ joint top scorer in the Premier League with five goals, missed last weekend’s victory over Southampton due to a groin injury. He is making progress, but it remains to be seen whether he will form part of Lopetegui’s squad at Molineux tomorrow.

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Wolves will definitely be without Mario Lemina after his controversial red card last weekend. Boubacar Traore and Hwang Hee-chan are also not ready to return for Wolves.

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Giving his latest team news update, Lopetegui said: “Lemina is out, of course. I think Daniel is close to coming back with us - the rest we haven’t had any problems. I think they are going to be ready, more or less.”

Joao Gomes is in contention to start after his match-winning contribution on his debut at St Mary’s. However, the Brazilian has only played 20 minutes of competitive football since November, when Flamengo’s 2022 season ended.

“He is one possibility,” said Lopetegui. “He has been working with us for three weeks and he has played 20 minutes in the last match. We are going to see tomorrow whether he is going to play in the line-up.”

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