“Unfortunately” – Gary O’Neil Rues Wolves Transfer Failings With Injury Concerns

Wolves’ striking options have dwindled due to injury and Gary O’Neil has criticised transfer chiefs for failing to address the situation.

Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Gary O’Neil claims that he is frustrated with the lack of attacking signings made in January given the current striker crisis at his club – after he was forced to play 18-year-old Leon Chiwome in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against Burnley.

Speaking after Wolves’ draw with the Clarets at Turf Moor, O’Neil admitted he was clear with the recruitment team but they still failed to land the striker he craved due to injuries in their front line.

O’Neil said: “I was clear with them that we were overloading the players and I felt our injury record had a really good chance of getting worse during the second half of the season. On top of that, I also flagged how short we were in attacking positions and if we suffered even a couple of injuries to the top line it would make a huge difference to what we were able to produce.

“Unfortunately, the club were not in a position to be able to help us with that due to financial reasons. We had a Premier League number nine lined up to come in and help us and a fairly small amount of money stopped us doing it.

“The situation the club is in is showing now. You can see now why the aim at the start of the season was to stay in the Premier League. We have some unbelievable players but if you lose a couple, I’m trying to pick a starting XI from 12 fit senior outfield players.

“I would doubt there’s another club in the other 91 in the country that are down that low. The point of all that, is that the group are out on their feet and deserve massive credit. To fight like they do, they deserve huge credit, with 42 points surpassing last year’s total with eight games to go.

“It’s an incredible effort from a special group of players that have given a lot to the club this year.”

Wolves’ Terrible Injury Record Analysed Amid O’Neil Concerns

The Molineux outfit have suffered badly with key players being injured

There is absolutely substance to what O’Neil is saying. This season alone, Neto, Hwang and Cunha have all spent periods on the sidelines. Neto is now out until the end of the season, and he missed nine crucial games midway through the season to further damage their European push.

Hwang, meanwhile, has only featured in two Premier League games since the turn of the year and may not feature again this season, whilst Cunha only made his return with a late cameo at Turf Moor to mark his first outing in eight games.

In essence, it’s a real testament to O’Neil that he has managed to secure 14 points since the turn of the year with three of his best forwards being unable to feature – and had they secured the January transfer aforementioned, there’s every chance the club could have been further up the table and pushing for a Europa League spot.