Gary O’Neil reserved some praise for Boubacar Traore last night following Wolves’ worrying defeat to Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup.
Wolves are out of the competition already, losing to the Tractor Boys 3-2, after going 2-0 up in the game.
Hwang Hee-chan and Toti Gomes put Wolves in a great position
But Wolves just capitulated, with Omari Hutchinson, Freddie Ladapo and Jack Taylor all scoring.
Ipswich are in great form at the moment.
But Wolves being 2-0 up makes this result especially unacceptable.
O’Neil will likely get time from Jeff Shi, Matt Hobbs and co. But pressure is now beginning to mount.
Not many players made the most of their opportunities last night – but one might have made a case to start against Manchester City in Traore…
Gary O’Neil praises Boubacar Traore after 3-2 defeat to Ipswich
Malian youngster Traore was given a start in midfield by O’Neil, alongside new signing Tommy Doyle who was making his full debut.
The pair were in for Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes.
And O’Neil was pleased with what he saw from the 22-year-old, saying (via Wolves official): “There were some changes enforced, Sasa was asking to come off because he’d run his race and couldn’t do any longer.
“Channy’s had some hamstring injuries and definitely wasn’t one who needed to do 90 this evening with big games coming. Some of the other lads got some good minutes into them which will be important. I thought Bouba Traore was excellent.”
O’Neil went on to praise goalscorer Hwang for his running and the threat he provided.
He also stated that Doyle did well.
Traore stakes claim for Man City start
The way in which Wolves capitulated against Ipswich was really concerning.
The pressure is now starting to just crank up a little on O’Neil, who could really do with some big results.
Things aren’t about to get any easier, with Manchester City up next on Saturday.
It will be interesting to see if he gets Traore into his starting XI for the game. There is a very reasonable chance he could come in as the replacement for the suspended Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
O’Neil will want his side to disrupt City, and Traore is a good presser and ball-winner.
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