Bruno Lage gives Raul Jimenez guarantee after dropping Wolves striker

Bruno Lage is certain Raul Jimenez will bounce back from the goal drought which cost him his place in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ starting line-up.

Jimenez was omitted from Lage’s XI for the 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend in favour of Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Daniel Podence.

The striker was also benched for the 1-0 loss at West Ham and is seemingly no longer indispensable to Wolves and Lage.

Scoring goals has been Wolves’ biggest issue this season, with only relegation scrappers Norwich City and Burnley posting lower totals in the Premier League.

Jimenez’s troubles in front of goal has been a significant factor. The formerly prolific Mexican has only registered five goals this season, having averaged 15 across his previous two full Premier League campaigns.

The 30-year-old has scored once from open play in 15 appearances since November 20, while his deputy Fabio Silva hasn’t netted all season.

But Lage says the strength Jimenez showed to overcome the catastrophic head injury that threatened to ruin his career gives him confidence that the striker will rediscover his goal scoring touch.

“A guy who comes (back) from what happened to him, if he can pass this moment, he will pass this moment without scoring goals,” said Lage.

“We were talking about this before the Tottenham game and he scored. Tell me about one team in the world where we are not talking about strikers when they go two or three games without scoring goals.

“Two or three weeks ago, the news was all about (Romelu) Lukaku and I think he has five goals like Raul. These guys have a lot of experience.

“The only thing is to remain calm, continue the things you are doing, and after that the goals will come. I put a lot of pressure on them in