Gary O'Neil urging caution as four key Wolves players in danger of suspension

Joao Gomes, Nelson Semedo, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Toti Gomes will all need to avoid getting booked in the next nine Premier League fixtures if they want to steer clear of a one-match suspension.

O'Neil, keen to have important players available for a crucial period of the season, has urged caution.

"As always, I tell the players not to get any soft yellow cards, but legitimate ones that you can't avoid in the modern game, we have to accept," O'Neil said.

"So that is where we are. There's nothing we can do about it.

"But just a reminder, let's not give any cheap ones away and keep the boys available for as long as possible."

As a tough tackling midfielder, yellow cards have been par for the course for J.Gomes.

Since joining Wolves in January 2023 the Brazilian has picked up 20 yellow cards in 55 Premier League games and O'Neil is working with him on avoiding needless bookings, while not detracting from his game.

"We speak to him about the needless ones," the head coach said.

"He is very competitive, he makes a lot of tackles and has a lot of regains, but we do work with him on trying to improve that side of it and making sure he makes good decisions around when he puts his leg in for things and when he doesn't.

"He is that type of player, but we need to help him understand when it's the right time to go in for things and when you can maybe stay on your feet.

"He's another player that's still very, very young and we're trying to help him develop.

"I love his energy and the fact that he's desperate to win the ball back, but we do need to make sure it's controlled enough to not get himself in too much trouble."

Wolves have now gone 10 games without a win this season but O'Neil is taking no notice of the number of matches and has urged his players to embrace the pressure.

"The job of a player involves pressure," he said.

"If you're not under any pressure, it means you're not performing at a very high level. So the fact that we're under pressure every day, every week, just is what it is.

"10 games means nothing to me, we'll know where we are after 38. Why would 10 be any different to 8 or 12 or 14?

"There's no lines drawn at any point. We always have an opportunity to change where we are.

"We all know that the fixture list has been difficult for us. A very tough start.

"My main concern is always points on the board, but secondary to that was how the group would come through the tough run of fixtures.

"The response shows where we are and we need to maintain that and turn it into some points as well as faith and belief."