Wolves dealt major blow as Bruno Lage rules key player out for season

Bruno Lage believes Max Kilman’s season is all but over after the Wolverhampton Wanderers star twisted his ankle in an open training session at Molineux.

Kilman has been one of Wolves’ stand-out performers this season and played every minute under Lage before dropping out of the team for the 4-0 win over Watford in March. The 24-year-old returned to the starting line-up to help Wolves to victories over Everton and Aston Villa before limping out of a training session last week.

Wolves’ medical team are assessing Kilman’s injury daily, but Lage expects him to miss the final five games. Wolves face Brighton at Molineux this weekend before games against Chelsea, Manchester City, Norwich City and Liverpool.

“With Max, to be honest it will be hard for him to return,” said Lage. “We have 25 days in front of us and I don’t believe he will recover.

“The doctors are doing a fantastic job and sometimes we recover players after time, so let’s see what can happen with Max. He twisted his ankle and we need to understand what the problem is.”

The injury is untimely for Kilman, who had hoped to force his way into Gareth Southgate’s squads for England’s four Nations League fixtures in June, two of which will be staged at Molineux. Kilman’s imperious form for Wolves this term has elevated him into Southgate’s thinking and he was unfortunate to miss out on his first England call-up in March.