Lage must unleash Wolves’ exciting 22 y/o with “explosiveness”, he can terrify Leeds - opinion

Wolves take on Leeds tonight at Molineux in the Premier League, with a chance to move above both Tottenham and West Ham into sixth, at least temporarily, and within one point of Manchester United in fifth and two points off Arsenal in fourth.

With qualification for Europe a real possibility this season, and Champions League football not completely out of reach just yet, a win tonight would make it their third in a row and put the pressure on their rivals above them.

However, they will be without star winger Pedro Neto and first-choice right-back Nelson Semedo for the visit of the Whites. The latter’s deputy Ki-Jana Hoever is also unavailable, leaving Jonny Otto to cover in the position.

South Korea forward Hwang Hee-chan will be available, but after picking up a slight knock last weekend, it might be worth Bruno Lage giving Chiquinho his first start in a Wolves jersey since completing his £2.9m move to the West Midlands from Portuguese Primeira Liga outfit Estoril in January.

Despite having played just 47 minutes in the English top flight since joining the Old Gold, the 22-year-old prospect has drawn comparisons to Adama Traore due to his strength and “explosiveness“.

Joao Plantier, his former coach at Sporting Lisbon’s academy, believes that this is down to hard work, saying: “He was really skinny. Now he is big, he’s done a lot of work on that part.

“He was already playing as a winger. He was really good in the one against one situations offensively. He’s from a neighbourhood where they play a lot in the streets with the other boys, so he had an aggressiveness.

“He didn’t like to lose a duel. I remember he had a friend from where he lived, and they came together. In the beginning of practice each time they competed to