Express & Star

Bruno Lage wants even more from Wolves star Raul Jimenez

Head coach Bruno Lage has challenged Raul Jimenez to brush off his emotional winner at Southampton by adding more goals to his tally.

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The Mexican striker netted a wonderful solo goal almost 10 months to the day since he fractured his skull to give Wolves a 1-0 win on the south coast.

It was his first goal of the season after a difficult return from injury, but Lage was keen to ease any talk about his comeback and instead task him to do his job and continue to score goals.

Lage said: “Sometimes you need to understand the subject is important but you cannot give it too much importance.

“We’ve spent two or three days talking about why Raul takes his headband (off), so I say next time when he takes off his band we’ll call the Mexican police and the FBI!

“We cannot put too much pressure on the players, they need to come and enjoy the game. They already know they need to do things well, football is about that. We don’t need to be there like, ‘You need to score goals’ or ‘today you need to make good saves’.

“I am lucky with him because now he’s just scored and we will talk about it! For me, he’s scored and tomorrow is another day. He needs to work hard for us in the same way to score more goals.

“It was important for him and for us. When I was at Benfica and I was talking about the profile of the striker I like, they said he was here and now he’s at Wolves. Two years later and I’m working with him.

“Raul is a good example that you can be a top, star player and a good man. He’s happy, confident and understands this moment. We cannot start to think about him not scoring, we just continue to work.

“The fans want goals for him and so do I, but I also want the work he did. It was a very good performance from him.”

Jimenez darted to the away supporters when he scored and celebrated emphatically at having finally found the net.

The story of the striker’s return is an emotional one, after he revealed his life was in danger at the time of the injury in November.

Altough Lage has dedicated the win to his forward and the fans, he was keen to downplay the situation and ensure Jimenez focuses on the next task.

Lage added: “Every time is important when you score goals. With the goal with give happiness to everyone. We say in Portugal, the face when you win is not the face when you lose. A striker’s job is to score goals and give happiness to everyone, especially our fans.

“These three points and this goal go straight to Raul and the fans because Raul scored the goal and the fans did a fantastic job singing his song from the first minute.

“Everyone is giving him confidence and especially our fans.

“He needs to do his job and he’s scored one goal. It’s important but tomorrow is another day and he needs to score more. He knows.”