Wolves suffered a fresh injury in their 1-0 loss to Bournemouth.
Santiago Bueno has been summoned to the Wolverhampton Wanderers treatment room after suffering a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.
Despite Bueno’s willingness to continue, Gary O’Neil decided to substitute him at halftime. The defender was given a 4/10 in Birmingham World’s player ratings for his role in the buildup to Antoine Semenyo’s winner, but he has otherwise been a consistent fixture in recent weeks.
Wolves have been plagued by injuries this season, and a thin starting lineup hasn’t helped their cause. The Old Gold will be praying the problem isn’t serious, especially as fellow centre-half Craig Dawson is out for the foreseeable future.
“We lost Santi to a hamstring,” O’Neil said in the postgame press conference. “Not a big hamstring, he wanted to give it a shot, but we don’t want to risk losing anyone for an extended period of time.”
“That would leave us with only Max Kilman and Toti in those roles. “Having only two centre-backs would be difficult for a team that usually plays three,” O’Neil added.
Wanderers used a fluid formation against Bournemouth, but it was normally a back four, with Rayan Ait-Nouri ahead of Toti on the left. It clearly didn’t work, as the Cherries controlled the first half and kept Wolves at bay in the second, but the four-back formation may have to persist.
O’Neil has frequently discussed selection issues in attack, since Pedro Neto, Matheus Cunha, and Hwang Hee-Chan have all been out for extended periods of time. However, if Bueno’s injury is significant, the defenders may face a fresh challenge.
Wolves will examine the Uruguayan’s hamstrings in due time. O’Neil will most likely deliver an update later this week, before hosting Luton Town on Saturday afternoon.
