Wolverhampton Wanderers’ game at Brighton on Wednesday night is going ahead, as things stand. Brighton manager Graham Potter revealed ‘three or four’ of his players had tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and further tests are planned before Wolves arrive at The AMEX. Speaking at his pre-Brighton press conference,
Bruno Lage said: “The last three weeks, we had Daniel (Podence), then Marcal, but now everyone is OK. We don’t have any Covid between us. Everyone is healthy. We are just following the rules. We are continuing with our meetings. Everyone wears their own masks. The most important thing was to get everyone fully vaccinated. When I arrived here, they asked me if I wanted it, and I wanted to be protected so I got it. In this moment, I think it’s the right thing to do. When I arrived most of the players had had their first one. When I had my first one, I watched all the players take their second one.”
In a broadcast on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked people to book a booster jab to protect themselves against the new Omicron variant which is spreading rapidly across the UK. Wolves, guided by club doctor Matt Perry, have already set the wheels in motion for their players to receive their third jabs.
Bruno Lage explained: “I think the doctors will try to talk today or in the next few days about that, and create a schedule for the players who want to take it. I saw a message in our WhatsApp group about it. I don’t know what’s the right day to take the third jab, but for sure our doctor has started planning it with the players, staff and everyone here in the building.”
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has even suggested he will take into account a player’s vaccination status when scouring the market for new signings in the January transfer window. Lage will also be looking to bring fresh faces to Wolves in the winter, but the Portuguese hasn’t yet considered rejecting a player who isn’t fully vaccinated against Covid-19. When quizzed on Gerrard’s comments,
Bruno Lage said: “I haven’t thought about it, but as managers we want our players to be fit and available for the games. I don’t really care about my players’ lives outside of the building. They are professional and know what they have to do. As a manager, all I want is them available for the games. When you invest a lot of money in a player, because now we are living in different times, and a player is not available, maybe you can think about that. What I want in the end, me and the different managers, is all the players available.”
Back to football and Brighton’s Covid crisis, combined with their injury issues, gives Wolves an excellent chance to secure three points on the road. Wolves haven’t won away from Molineux in two months and they’ve fired blanks in their last four games against Norwich, Burnley, Liverpool and Manchester City. Their pursuit of goals won’t be helped by Jimenez’s suspension following his bizarre sending off in the 1-0 defeat to Man City on Saturday.
Bruno Lage said: “We talk about a lot of things; the way we are defending, the way we are pressing, and sometimes other things we need to improve. Last week we talked to the players about our throw-ins because, against Burnley and Liverpool, we had the ball in our hands and we lost it easily. We always look for little things to improve our team.”
