Wolves dealt major Ruben Neves blow before Aston Villa clash

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt a major blow after Ruben Neves suffered an injury against Leeds United.

The midfielder picked up the problem during a touchline tussle involving two Leeds United players in the opening 15 minutes at Molineux. After lengthy treatment on the field, Neves tried to continue before being replaced by Francisco Trincao in the 25th minute.

Neves appeared to be suffering with some discomfort in his right leg, possibly his knee, with club doctor Rob Chakraverty signalling to Bruno Lage that a change needed to be made. The Portuguese headed straight down the tunnel for treatment.

Neves, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Sunday, has been hugely influential for Wolves this season with four goals and two assists in the Premier League. Lage will be hoping his absence isn’t a lengthy one.

Trincao made an instant impact after replacing Neves to assist Jonny Castro Otto’s opening goal within 60 seconds of coming on. The assist represents Trincao’s first goal involvement in the Premier League this season.

Neves is the latest Wolves player to suffer an injury in recent weeks with Nelson Semedo, Ki-Jana Hoever and Pedro Neto already sidelined, although Lage believes Semedo and Neto could be ready to return after the international break. Neves is due to spend the international period with his country, and Portugal have a huge World Cup play-off game against Hungary next week.

Wolves’ first game after the international break is against Aston Villa on April 2. Neves scored the winning goal when Wolves came from two goals down to beat Villa 3-2 in October.