Gary O'Neil backs experienced Wolves defender to play 'massive role'

The experienced defender started the season on the bench but was quickly recalled to play at Nottingham Forest, where his battling performance helped his side to a point.

Now, O’Neil has heaped praise on Dawson for his impact after recovering from groin surgery.

“He was excellent,” the head coach said.

“I don’t know whether he believed me when I told him in pre-season that he would be hugely important and he’d have a shirt at some point.

“He’s going to be massive for us. He knows the league, he’s good with the ball and he’s an expert at defending the goal.

“We’ve got Yerson and Toti, two young centre-backs that have not played much together.

“Toti has not played much in a four, so Dawson was always going to be in the team at some point.

“The way he played showed he was ready. He had a fairly significant injury and a disrupted pre-season, but to come out and perform the way he did was a big positive for us and one of the reasons we leave with a point.”

Meanwhile, O’Neil is delighted to have Nelson Semedo back after his suspension and competing with Matt Doherty at right-back.

“I’m pleased to have him back,” O’Neil said.

“I’m pleased Doc is in a good place and it was a tough one for him as he’d played well in the last two games, but I felt Nelson would help us.

“Doc, the way he’s played and trained, meant that when Nelson did go down with cramp I was really confident about the Doc I was about to put on and how he would be able to perform.

“With the season Nelson had last season and the quality he has, he’s a big plus for us and hopefully he gets some more training and minutes with Portugal and he can come back in the shape where he can last a bit longer.

“Both of them, Doc and Nelson, are in a decent spot at the moment.”