Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo only had EIGHT players fit for training – with the rest on ice
NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO only had eight players in training ahead of their trip to Everton — the rest were on ICE.
Wolves boss Nuno is trying to cope with the demands of preparing for a TENTH match in 38 days.
On Friday, they were drawn against Besiktas, Braga and Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League group stage — their first foray into Europe since 1980.
Wolves beat Torino in their Euro qualifying play-off, with the second leg on Thursday night.
And ahead of tomorrow’s Goodison clash, Nuno said: “The day after, the guys who played were recovering — ice treatments, cryotherapy chambers, all these things.
“That left me only eight players actually in training for the Everton match.
“It’s made up of those who didn’t play against Torino and those who only had some minutes.
“There were those, like Matt Doherty and Max Kilman, who weren’t involved at all.
“So on Friday we had Matt, Ryan Bennett, Max, Ruben Vinagre, Ruben Neves, Morgan Gibbs-White, Patrick Cutrone and Pedro Neto.”
Nuno had his cobbled-together team play against a mixture of under-23s and under-18s, setting them out in the style he expects to use at Everton.
And the Portuguese added: “This is my job, to use players when I think I should and not play them if I have other options — depending on the game. But the squad is healthy and everybody wants to play.”
Marco Silva’s Everton have only lost once at Goodison — to champions Manchester City — since Wolves thumped them 3-1 on February 2.
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Boss Silva, who saw forward Kevin Mirallas, 31, join Belgium side Royal Antwerp on a free on Friday, warned: “Wolves are such a strong team.
“They had a very good season last time so we have to prepare well for our attacking moments.
“But also be ready to lose the ball — because in that moment they’re so strong counter-attacking.”