Bruno Lage hopes Pedro Neto can replace Wolves' missing Adama Traore impact

Neto came off the bench in the 80th minute in the win over Leicester, marking his return from a fractured kneecap, and put in an energetic performance.

After Traore departed for Barcelona on-loan with an option to buy in January, Lage hopes Neto can fill that void.

Lage said: “It was good and he helped the team in that moment. He came inside when it was 2-1 and understood the pressure we wanted.

“He gave us some speed in the attack, like the impact that Adama did for us – I think he can have that impact now.

“He had a big chance to score in the last minute. Pedro, for now, it’s about giving him confidence and time because the things will come for sure.

“He’s working hard and we believe a lot in him, but to play he must fight for his place every day.”

Fellow winger Daniel Podence also impressed and scored his first Premier League goal of the season.

And with Hwang Hee-chan also back from injury, Lage is pleased with the options he has.

He added: “Everyone is important in this team. We are talking about Daniel, but I can talk about the wingers and the strikers because they are so important to the way we play without the ball and the way we defend and press.

“He created good chances, he scored a fantastic goal and he gave us three points.

“And he knows. I heard what he said before the game, that we have strong competition with the wingers, and that’s it. We have a lot of solutions – Hwang, Trincao, Daniel and now Pedro – so we can be happy. There’s going to be a big challenge between them.

“It’s very hard to play in this team. Daniel needs to work hard when we don’t have the ball. After that, they need to play, they need to score goals and create chances.”

Meanwhile, Ruben Neves has praised Wolves’ mentality after overcoming a difficult test against Leicester.

Wolves were not at their best but still created two good goals and stood firm defensively in the closing stages of the game, as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.

And Neves believes mental attitude of his team-mates proved pivotal in Wolves picking up a vital three points.

“It was a really hard game for us, Leicester played well,” Neves said.

“They have a lot of quality and we knew that before the game, but our mentality brought us the three points.

“When we win like this, even if we play like we don’t want to play, it’s really good.

“It’s a fantastic win for us and a massive three points. We now want to keep it going.”