"This is the profile that I like" - Wolves player backed for team impact

The head coach has utilised Gomes as a wing-back in his system and has so far been reluctant to play him in the front three.

There are five players all fighting for two positions and Gomes, who has scored in both of the last two games, can play on either flank.

And for that reason - and the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations - Pereira insists he will need Gomes to help the squad.

Pereira said: "We have five players for two positions, but we have AFCON and will lose Jackson (Tchatchoua).

"Rodrigo can play on the right and left side and you know the energy he can bring for us.

"This is a player that I like a lot. I like his mentality, his energy, his personality and what he brings to us when he has a chance to play.

"This is the profile that I like."

On the left side, Hugo Bueno and David Moller Wolfe have been interchanging in their fight to start and Pereira likes this battle between them.

"I'm not this kind of manager, I like competition and to make them feel that they are part of the team," Pereira said.

"If they are in the first XI or if they come from the bench, I say to these players that I know I will need them during the game and they will be mentally prepared for this.

"It means I will not select the same player or the same team every time."

Pereira has already chopped and changed his wing-backs this season, in just four matches in all competitions.

The boss wants his wing-backs to be aggressive going forward but also available defensively and due to that, he is adamant he will continue to make changes to ensure he picks the fresher player.

"What I'm trying to do is have two players in each position to compete and to take the best of them, with good spirit," the head coach said.

"If they stay on the bench they will go on for five minutes to help the team, this is the spirit that I want to create in my squad.

"The wing-backs in our system need a lot of energy, they need to run a lot and I will change the wing-backs a lot because I want this energy every time.

"Forcing the space every time, being aggressive in the space.

"Jackson is one of these players, Rodrigo, Ki-Jana, Wolfe and Bueno too.

"This is a position that we need to force every time, force our game.

"For the new players it's normal that they need some time to adapt to the system and understand what they can give us with their skills.

"Trying to understand also the spirit that I want to create.

"It's something we need to build step by step."