Gary O’Neil thinks his Wolves side will need to be “close to perfect” to derail Manchester City on Saturday – a game he will have to watch from the stands.
O’Neil will serve a one-match touchline ban at the Etihad Stadium after comments he made in the aftermath of last month’s defeat to West Ham, increasing the difficulty of this weekend’s assignment at the Premier League title chasers.
The manager has attempted to mitigate the impact of his banishment to the stands, but admits it is an unwanted hurdle.
“Of course, it is not ideal, if it was ideal we would do it every week. But no problem,” he said.
“It will have an impact, of course, but there are things in place. I am in the changing room with the players doing all of the pre-match prep, and at half-time and at full-time. I will be in communication with the bench, have a decent view tactically of the game from where I am sat.
“The coaching staff are equally aware of what we are trying to do tomorrow and me being higher up will allow me to get a different view on things and I can get some messages down.
“The title is on the line for them. They probably don’t feel like they can make a slip. I would have thought with Arsenal breathing down their necks they will expect to need maximum points from the games they have got left to get it done.
“We go there trying to give everything we can. Try and be as close to perfect as we can and see if we can cause an upset.”
His name is Tommy Doyle and he's signed for the Wolves ✍️ pic.twitter.com/JWmbhQpnmH
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 3, 2024
Wolves will be without City loanee Tommy Doyle for the match, but will soon have full control over the midfielder having activated the option sign him permanently.
The 22-year-old penned a four-year contract to tie him at Molineux until 2028, with the option of another two years.
Doyle, who made seven appearances for City having come through the youth system, has played 30 times for Wolves this season as they look set for a mid-table finish in the Premier League.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “We’ve never seen Tommy as a player on loan, and he hasn’t acted like one.
“He’s gradually earned more minutes and become more important, which I think is an ideal first year. What he offers to our midfield is something different to the others, so there was a huge amount of inevitability to this.
“He buys into who we are as a club and what we’re trying to create culturally within the group.
“If you look at the type of players we like to sign as a football club, they generally haven’t reached their ceiling yet and have loads more to come.
“Tommy is a fraction of the player he will become, with the more he gets used to the league and the greater his understanding gets.
“I’m really excited for now but also his future at Wolves.”