Wolves' Raul Jimenez ruled out of West Brom Black Country derby with knee injury

Wolves have suffered a major injury blow with star striker Raul Jimenez set to miss Sunday’s Black Country derby and several weeks of action.

Cesar Peixoto confirmed the Mexican will be out for a spell after suffering a knee injury in the first half of Wolves’ EFL Cup clash against Everton.

It means Jimenez will miss the highly anticipated derby against West Brom at Molineux on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, we are frustrated because Raul will stay injured for a few weeks,” he said.

“It is not a muscular injury in the knee. It is not bad, but he is a key player for us. We are frustrated because he was only going to play 45 minutes and go out like Krejci. He needed minutes to stay fit for the next game.

“These kind of things can happen in the game or a training session. We don’t control these kind of things.

“We are frustrated because he is a key player for us, but like we showed today, we have a team, we have options.

“Raul has a lot of frustration, we have a lot of frustration in the team. But we are going to fight for him, fight to win the next game, for the fans and for Raul also.”

Jimenez missed both Black Country derbies played behind closed doors in 2021 after suffering a serious head injury against Arsenal in November 2020.

His latest injury is likely to see Adam Armstrong lead the line against Albion. Jimenez featured during the second half of Wolves’ 1-0 victory over Sheffield United last weekend, scoring the winner.

Jimenez’s inclusion in the starting XI against Everton came as a surprise given the derby was only days away, but Peixoto said the forward needed minutes to maintain his fitness.

“He had to play, because Adam (Armstrong) played 90 minutes in the last game,” Peixoto added.

“Raul was only going to play 45 minutes, and Adam 45 minutes to manage the minutes.

“Unfortunately this injury happened. We don’t control these kind of things, they can happen in training. We have to stay strong.

“We played the first games without Mosquera, without Rafiki (Said), without (Jean-Ricner) Bellegarde, without a lot of players, and the team stayed competitive. And we are going to stay competitive, for sure.

“But with Raul we are more strong for sure, that is true, we are frustrated with that.”

Jimenez went down approaching half-time after a clash during a tackle on the edge of the penalty area. The 35-year-old received treatment before being substituted and headed down the tunnel with a grimace on his face.

The injury is a significant setback for Wolves and Jimenez, who made a stunning return to Molineux this summer.

Peixoto added: “We are all frustrated about that, he is a key player for us. But we have to manage things, try to recover Raul as soon as possible, try to recover the team.

“This week we have three games and we have to recover to stay fit and well for the next game. We know the importance of the next game.”