Raul Jimenez blow for Wolves as Virginia and Neave impress in Everton cup loss | OneFootball

Wolves’ EFL Cup loss at Everton was overshadowed by Raul Jimenez’s injury, ruling him out of Sunday’s Black Country derby.

As reported by ExpressAndStar.com, Cesar Peixoto started the striker to build fitness with a planned 45 minutes.

Jimenez twice went down, first recovered, then after a challenge with Tyler Dibling on the edge of the box he appeared to bang his knee and left grimacing.

His comeback had raised hopes of a derby return at Molineux, but he will miss another, having also sat out the behind-closed-doors meetings in 2021 after his 2020 head injury.

Adam Armstrong is likely to lead the line, having drawn Wolves’ best chance only to be denied.

Joao Virginia’s debut was a bright note, the Portuguese, one of nine changes, making several fine saves against his former club, including an excellent close-range stop from Thierno Barry, providing competition for Jose Sa.

Newcastle loanee Sean Neave impressed on his first start with fearless work and neat touches, and his determination and pass created Armstrong’s opening.

Peixoto managed minutes with Andre, Fer Lopez and Rodrigo Gomes left out, several regulars on the bench, and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde back from a hamstring issue.

Wolves stood up to their Premier League opponents for long spells and showed depth despite the changes.

Attention now turns to the biggest game of the season so far.

West Brom have had the week to prepare while Wolves made the midweek trip, and they will go into it without Jimenez.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”