Medical expert explains Wolves plan for Pedro Neto after ‘unfortunate’ reveal
Wolves will use the rest of the season to steadily reintegrate Pedro Neto and not push him too hard in the hope of immediate results.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Neto, 22, suffered a fractured kneecap in April last year and his time on the sidelines was extended after he exacerbated the injury in August.
The Portuguese attacker returned to play in February this year but has not been in the matchday squad for either of Wolves’ last two matches.
Per club media last Wednesday (23 March), Bruno Lage revealed: “He has had a couple of recent minor issues unrelated to the initial knee injury.”
Dinnery explained that Neto’s “unfortunate” setbacks are par for the course and that the emphasis will be on getting him ready for 2022-23 in any case.
“One of those recent injuries was a knock,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“It’s a contact sport and you are going to pick up niggles whether you’re coming off a long-term injury or not.
“It’s a little bit unfortunate but the little bits of muscle tightness here and there, that’s just the body acclimatising to playing top-flight football again.
“That will ease when he gets more minutes in his legs. Pre-season will be crucial for that.
“With Pedro Neto, we’re not looking at the here and now. We’re looking towards next season to get those consistent top-level performances.“
Neto has scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in 84 appearances for Wolves since he signed from Braga in 2019.
Lage’s 8th-place side are in action against Aston Villa tomorrow (2 April).
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor slaughters big-name Wolves trio as finger pointed at Conor Coady.