Wolves suffer major blow ahead of West Brom | OneFootball

The Mexican forward will miss Sunday's Black Country derby through injury

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be without the experience of Raul Jimenez for Sunday's Black Country derby against West Bromwich Albion at Molineux.

The 35-year-old Mexican striker sustained an unfortunate knee issue in Wolves' narrow EFL Cup defeat at the hands of Everton on Wednesday night, and is now set for a spell on the sidelines.

Jimenez was one of 10 summer additions in this part of the West Midlands, although his return to the Old Gold and Black on a free transfer was confirmed even before Cesar Peixoto replaced Rob Edwards as head coach.

Wolves have made an intriguing start to the Championship season, winning three of their opening six matches and losing just once, whilst also recording double-figure tallies in both goals scored and conceded.

Sunday's clash against West Brom is the clubs' first league meeting since May 2021 and the first encounter at Molineux with supporters present in the stadium since February 2012.

Given his cult status in WV1, supporters will have been dreaming of Jimenez being the derby hero this weekend, but he will now have to wait until the reverse fixture at The Hawthorns.

Cesar Peixoto reveals Raul Jimenez injury timescale ahead of West Brom derby

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The 130-time international has already come to Wolves' aid this season, netting a 93rd-minute equaliser against Blackburn Rovers from the penalty spot on the opening night of the season before slotting home a late winner last Sunday at Bramall Lane versus Sheffield United, with another spot-kick against Stoke City sandwiched inbetween.

Having played just 27 minutes against the Blades, it was revealed that the plan was for Jimenez to play the first half at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but he was forced off seven minutes before the break in place of Adam Armstrong.

Speaking post-match on the injury, Peixoto said: “He was only going to play 45 minutes, like (Ladislav) Krejci.

"Raul needed to play because he didn’t play 90 minutes in the last game. It’s not a muscular injury, but he has a small injury to his knee and we’ll be without him for a few weeks," the Wolves boss explained.

"For sure, that’s bad news for us."

Wolves fans react to Raul Jimenez's injury setback

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Unsurprisingly, with such a huge game on the horizon, there have been mixed opinions from Wolves fans regarding the timing of Jimenez's setback, as well as Peixoto's initial decision to play the forward against the Toffees.

"I mean why did he need to play 45 mins? Age means one game a week in my opinion," debated one Wanderers supporter.

"Absolute daft decision by him to start Raul tonight. Stupid decision which most were questioning before the start of the match," said another.

A similar response read: "Why oh why then play Raul before such a huge game!"

However, not all were of this stance, with one fan claiming: "If we have to rely on Raul to win a game then we shouldn’t be near the top. Plenty of players we need to step up."

"If we play like we did tonight we still have enough. And (Sean) Neave looks a player get him central he will be a problem," stated another supporter.

"What if he got injured against Albion. Just be glad its a few weeks. Hopefully he's back after the break," was another verdict.

"He played him because he needs to get match fitness and form. Plus, CP’s success will be judged on whether we get promoted, not on Sunday alone," commented a fan who appears to have backed Peixoto's selection call.

Wolves still have the attacking quality to cause problems for West Brom

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Jimenez is no stranger to featuring in intense atmospheres, as we saw when his nation co-hosted the summer's World Cup, so his experience would have certainly been beneficial to Wolves against the Baggies this weekend.

However, there is also no question that Peixoto still has enough attacking quality to cause James Morrison's side issues, with Neave impressing against Everton, whilst plenty has been made of Fer Lopez's flying start to the campaign in particular.