Tommy Doyle and Joe Hodge: Wolves injuries and return dates
Wolverhampton Wanderers injury news from BirminghamLive as the club prepares for their Premier League game at home to Liverpool on September 16
Wolves take a rest from Premier League action this weekend thanks to the international break, perhaps giving manager Gary O’Neil the chance to take a breath after a frantic first month in the job.
The former Bournemouth manager was brought in on August 9, just five days before the start of the new season and has guided the team to three points from his opening four games. He has also had an influence on a busy end to the transfer window in which Matheus Nunes was sold to Manchester City and Tommy Doyle, Enso Gonzalez, Santiago Bueno and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde were recruited.
So, the international break gives him the chance to make plans for the next match – at home to Liverpool on Saturday September 16 – as well as monitor the progress of players currently out through injury. Two players to miss Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace were new signing Doyle and fellow midfielder Joe Hodge. Here’s the state of play with them…
Tommy Doyle : Speaking at his press conference at the end of the Crystal Palace game, O’Neil said: “Tommy Doyle has a slight issue with his knee which shouldn’t be anything too serious. I am hoping he will be available for after the international break.”
Possible return date: The Premier League home game with Liverpool on Saturday September 16 (12.30pm).
Joe Hodge, the Republic of Ireland under-21 captain suffered a hamstring injury during the second half of last week’s 5-0 win at home to Blackpool in the Carabao Cup. That didn’t look good as the midfielder pulled up clutching the back of his leg and had to be helped from the pitch.
But O’Neil said at his press conference last Thursday that Hodge could be out for a few weeks rather than a more serious injury. He was able to confirm that more encouraging news when asked about the youngster in his press conference after the Palace game.
What the manager said : “We expect him to be three to four weeks from the date of the injury. That is where we are at the minute. He will be checked again in the next few days and weeks as he progresses to check he is healing as you would expect but hopefully the good side of a month. That would be a decent target.”
Possible return date : If Hodge can get back just inside a month then he could be in the reckoning for the Carabao Cup third-round tie at Ipswich Town. That game has just been confirmed for Tuesday September 26 (7.45pm).
