Ireland U21s' captain Joe Hodge targets loan move 'if things don't change' for him at Wolves

Republic of Ireland Under-21 captain Joe Hodge admits he will look to go out on loan if regular opportunities do not arise at Wolves between now and January but is fully focused on trying to break back into the first team picture at the Premier League club.

The midfielder's start to the new season was temporarily derailed by a grade two hamstring injury which kept him out for around four weeks, including the Irish U21s' opening European qualifier wins over Turkey and San Marino last month.

At club level, his first team involvement before that setback was restricted to a 55-minute cameo against Blackpool in the Carabao Cup at the end of August.

But now that injury is behind him, he is keen to impress Wolves manager Gary O'Neil who replaced Julen Lopetegui just days before the start of the campaign.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport ahead of Friday's U21 qualifier in Latvia, Hodge said he had spoken to the former Bournemouth boss about his role going forwards.

"I spoke to him a couple of times. It's always difficult. I think there's quality in the squad, I think everyone sees that and the last couple of results show that," he said.

"It's not easy but obviously I'm not happy with where I'm at at the moment. I want to be doing more than what I'm doing.

"I feel like I'm capable of doing more than what I'm doing at the moment. There's still a few months left till January so I'm going to try and do my best to get myself in the team, push as hard as I can and then, look, if things don't change, I'll be looking to go out and get some minutes because I think that's the most important."

This time last season, Hodge had just begun to make his mark within the Wolverhampton Wanderers first team. Indeed, the first anniversary of what was an impressive