Record signing Kevin Doyle is in danger of missing Wolves’ Premier League return next month after having a hernia operation.

The £6.5million arrival from Reading was this week flown out to Munich for the surgery by a hernia specialist and he is expected to be ruled out for at least two weeks.

But with the 25-year-old already behind on his pre-season preparations because of the injury, the August 15 curtain-raiser against West Ham is likely to come too soon for him.

It presents manager Mick McCarthy with another injury disappointment he could have done without, following the loss of Doyle’s fellow striker Chris Iwelumo with a broken bone in his foot.

The Wolves boss was happy to look on the bright side of the setback for Doyle, relieved that the problem had been dealt with before it had got any worse.

McCarthy said: “He came in and started to feel it in the first few days’ training. I’m glad it’s a hernia and not a strained stomach muscle.

“We know what it is, he’s been and had it done and will be out on the training ground in two weeks.

“He’ll get his rehab and, while he’ll be behind everyone else, he’s a fit guy who puts a good shift in. He’d been doing alright before the injury.

“We’ve got great physio and fitness staff in Steve Kemp and Tony Daley and their teams so that doesn’t worry me. We just need to get him right which he will be in a couple of weeks.”

Whether the absence of both Doyle and Iwelumo adds momentum to Wolves’ remaining transfer plans remains to be seen, although while admitting that he and his staff were “still looking”, McCarthy is not expecting anything immediate to materialise.

A decision on defender Bobo Balde, who continued his Wolves trial with 90 minutes at Walsall last night, is expected next week, while McCarthy played down 18-year-old James McCarthy’s decision to opt for a move to Wigan.

The manager added: “If he had come in and set the world alight then fine. But really, it was more likely that he would have been one for the future.”