Mario Lemina apologises amid Wolves fallout

The former club captain was due to travel with the squad but made himself unavailable for the fixture, amid interest from Al Shabab.

The Saudi Arabian side approached Wolves to sign him on a free, but Wolves value him at around £5million.

But head coach Vitor Pereira says the midfielder has now apologised to the management and his team-mates, ahead of Wolves' trip to Chelsea.

"From what I learned in my life, in we speak every time truly, we don't have problems" Pereira said.

"As I said, in the last press conference I thought he was ready for the game and then he asked me to be out of the game because mentally he was not in the condition.

"Today he came to me in the morning and apologised to me and the team and said he is ready to do his best for the team until we have a solution and decision.

"This is the way that he must behave. We are professional, the club pays the salaries and he should come here with energy to help until the last day."

Lemina still wants to leave the club and all parties are working on getting him a move.

He 31-year-old trained with the team on Friday morning, but it remains to be seen if he plays again before the transfer window closes.

"We can commit mistakes in our life, I've made mistakes in my life," Pereira said.

"We must give him the opportunity to show (he is sorry) in his acts and not his words.

"I believe he spoke with his heart and he will try. I am here to see if he can help or not.

"If he cannot, I prefer to go with another player that is committed.

"Mario has quality and can bring us physicality in midfield, technical quality. It depends on his mind.

"I hope that until the end of the season, or until the end of the month, he'll be able to help us."

When asked if he will play against Chelsea, Pereira added: "It depends. Tomorrow I will see him on the pitch (in training)."

Wolves are working on bringing in a midfielder to replace Lemina, while they also want to add a defender.

"We are working, we are doing our work, and I hope before the market closes we can get one or two players," the head coach said.

"We need more solutions to help.

"I'm very happy with the team and the players I have, but I think we need more solutions in midfield, maybe another defender.

"We are trying to understand the market and the opportunities in the market and it depends what we find.

"If we find the right players to bring, OK, if not it's better to bring no-one."