Wolverhampton Wanderers hopes of European football took a huge blow as they lost 1-0 to Newcastle United on Friday evening.
Chris Wood’s second-half penalty was enough to separate the two sides on a night where Wolves’ squad depth, or lack of, was highlighted for all to see.
Both Leander Dendoncker and Daniel Podence failed to make the squad for the trip to St James’s Park through illness and a knock respectively and with Raul Jimenez already out through suspension and Ruben Neves missing with injury, it left 19-year-old Luke Cundle starting in the middle of the park.
A lack of depth has been a worry for Wanderers all season and the fact they sit where they currently do in the Premier League table is a credit to Bruno Lage and his tight-knit group of players.
However, there is only so much one squad can take and tonight it felt like one game too far as tired legs were on display throughout.
It’s a huge blow to Wolves’ hopes of gaining a European spot come May but keeping the positive thoughts, there will be plenty of twists and turns between now and the end of the campaign.
Here’s our player ratings from a disappointing evening in the North East.
1. Jose Sa - 5
Clumsy for the penalty. Quiet night otherwise.
2. Jonny Otto - 7*
Good going forward and solid defensively. Close to a MOTM on Saturday, gets mine tonight.
3. Willy Boly - 6
Solid for the most part but no clean sheet this evening.
4. Conor Coady - 6.5
Spent a lot of the evening trying to direct his teammates. Couldn’t have done any more from a captain’s perspective.