18 December 2020

Nuno Espirito Santo hails development of young Wolves winger Pedro Neto

18 December 2020

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo praised the development of young winger Pedro Neto.

With Raul Jimenez expected to be sidelined long term as he recovers from the fractured skull he suffered against Arsenal, Wolves are in need of other attacking players to step up.

Twenty-year-old Neto has certainly been one of those, with his 90th-minute winner against Chelsea on Tuesday taking his goal tally for the season to four.

Nuno said: “It’s good to see a young player develop and improve. I think Pedro since last season has been always on a way of improvement, being more consistent in his actions. I think he’s playing good and he’s working hard for the team. So this is the more important aspect is that I can see he’s a team player.”

The Wolves boss also had generous words for midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who signed a new three-year deal earlier this week.

“He’s a versatile player and a very good player, a huge player for us in terms of his work-rate, the spaces that he can fulfil on the pitch, the distances,” said Nuno.

“He’s a very, very important player. I’m truly happy that he’s going to stay with Wolves for more time.”

Dendoncker is one of Wolves’ big doubts for Monday’s Premier League trip to Burnley after being substituted at half-time on Tuesday with a knock.

Willy Boly was also in discomfort late on, and Nuno said: “There are some problems from the previous game against Chelsea but we have still a couple of days to assess and decide.”

Wolves sit 10th in the table after Tuesday’s victory, which came on the back of defeats against Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Nuno is happy with the direction in which his team are heading but stressed that they are not yet the complete package.

“I think we did a good game,” he said. “In the match before I think we played good. I’m aware that we need a lot of work in front of us.

“Still a long way to go in terms of how we want to do things but I’m pleased with the fact the players are committed to it and we work as a unit to try to improve everybody. I think we could and we should improve in our game.”

Burnley have only lost one of their last five matches, keeping three clean sheets, and last season’s contests between the sides both ended in 1-1 draws.

“Very, very tough,” said Nuno. “Burnley is a good team, creates a lot of problems. A physical team but good possession of the ball, very compact, talented players in the midfield and up front. A very demanding challenge for us on Monday.”

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